2255 
M3 


UC-NRLF 


SECOND  EDITION 


HOW  ARE  YOU 

GOING  TO 

VOTE 


THE  PLATFORMS 

OF  THE 

REPUBLICAN 

AND 

DEMOCRATIC 
PARTIES 


>ICLUDING  THE  ELECTORAL  AND  POPULAR  VOTE  FOR 
912  AND  1916.  AND  A  BRIEF  SKETCH  OF  THE  ORIGIN 
AND  HISTORY  OF  EACH  PARTY. 


WALTER  V.  Mc'fcEE 


FLYNN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

30  North  La  Salle  Street  CHICAGO 


Copyright  19M 
FLYNN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Foreword 

To  every  citizen,  be  he  native  born  or 
naturalized,  there  comes  a  time  when  he 
must  ask  himself,  "Am  I  a  Democrat  or  a 
Republican?  With  which  of  these  two 
great  parties  shall  I  affiliate  myself?" 

To  answer  this  perplexing  question  is 
the  purpose  of  this  little  book.  To  this 
end  the  author  has  briefly  sketched  the 
history  of  both  parties  and  reproduced  for 
study  their  platforms  as  adopted  at  the 
1 920  conventions. 

If  a  few  only  are  helped  to  decide  this 
important  question  of  citizenship  and 
Americanism,  the  task  has  not  been  in 
vain. 

422247 


A  Brief  Sketch  of  Political  Parties  m 
America*  PoUtic*      / 


The  existence  of  political  parties  is  caused  primarily 
by  differences  in  public  opinions  on  questions  of  wide 
or  national  scope.  These  differences  of  opinion  came 
into  being  even  during  the  founding  of  our  nation  and 
were  in  fact  the  cause  of  it.  The  patriots  of  that 
time  were  called  Whigs  and  those  opposed  to  the 
Revolution  and  loyal  to  the  King  of  England,  Torys. 
Of  course  after  the  Revolution  only  Whigs  were  left, 
but  with  the  adoption  of  our  Constitution  came  into 
being  other  differences  of  opinion  and  hence  political 
parties  to  support  them.  Those  who  supported  the 
ratification  of  the  Constitution  were  called  Federalists 
and  those  who  were  against  it,  Anti-Federalists. 
These  may  be  said  to  be  the  first  great  political  parties 
in  our  country.  Although  at  variance  in  a  great  many 
points  most  people  were  in  favor  of  giving  the  new 
government  a  chance  and  so  the  Anti-Federalists 
gradually  disappeared.  The  difference  of  opinion 
however,  did  not  disappear  for  they  represented  the 
difference  between  radical  and  conservative;  a  dif- 
ference which  is  as  old  as  mankind.  It  was  also  a 
difference  between  those  who  believed  in  the  control  of 
affairs  by  the  select  few  or  by  the  upper  class  and  those 
who  believed  in  advancing  the  interest  of  the  mass  of 
the  people.  Here  we  see  the  beginning  of  Republican- 
ism and  Democracy  although  the  two  great  parties  were 
not  designated  until  somewhat  later  in  our  history. 

The  Federalist  party  as  found  at  the  birth  of  our 
nation  existed  until  1854  under  various  names  and 
with  many  changes  and  at  which  time  a  new  party 
was  organized  and  called  the  Republican  party. 


This  pgirty  consisted  of  all  those  opposed  to  the  ex- 
tension of  slavery  into  the  territories  and  was  com- 
posed of  Free  Soilers,  Anti-Slavery  Whigs,  some 
Democrats  and  the  Abolitionists.  During  the  period 
of  the  Civil  War  many  Democrats  acted  with  it  It 
first  nominated  a  candidate  for  president  in  1856. 

This  party  favored  a  broad  construction  of  the 
Constitution,  liberal  expenditures,  extension  of  the 
power  of  the  national  government,  a  high  protection 
tariff  and  the  gold  standard.  Among  the  measures 
with  which  it  has  been  identified  in  whole  or  in  part 
are  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  reconstruction  and  the  resumption  of  specie 
payments.  It  has  controlled  the  executive  or  national 
government  under  the  administrations  of  the  following 
presidents:  Abraham  Lincoln,  Ulysses  Grant,  An- 
dr*w  Johnson,  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  James  A.  Gar- 
field,  Chester  B.  Arthur,  Benjamin  Harrison, 
William  McKinley,  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Wm. 
H.  Taft. 

The  Federalists  called  themselves  Republicans  and 
because  those  opposed  to  them  also  called  themselves 
Republicans,  a  more  convenient  name  evolved  in 
Democratic-Republicans  for  the  latter.  These  were 
the  more  radical  and  the  Democrats  so  found  their 
leader  in  Thomas  Jefferson.  Gradually  the  word 
Republican  was  dropped  and  they  called  themselves 
simply  Democrats.  The  Democratic  party  as  it 
exists  today  claims  direct  desent  from  this  party  and 
also  claims  as  its  founder  Thomas  Jefferson.  Its 
great  and  fundamental  difference  from  the  Repub- 
lican party  may  be  said  to  be  that  it  has  always 
opposed  a  strong  central  government  and  has  generally 
favored  a  strict  construction  of  the  Constitution.  It 
has  controlled  the  executive  or  national  government 


under  the  administrations  of  the  following  presidents: 
Thomas  Jefferson,  James  Madison,  James  Munroe, 
Andrew  Jackson,  Martin  Van  Buren,  James  Polk, 
Franklin  Pierce,  Grover  Cleveland  and  Woodrow 
Wilson. 


The  Platform  as  adopted  by  the 
Republican  National  Conten- 
tion, Chicago,  1920: 

The  Republican  party,  assembled  in  representative 
convention  re-affirms  its  unyielding  devotion  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  and  to  the  guaran- 
tees of  civil,  political  and  religious  liberty  therein 
contained.  It  will  resist  all  attempts  to  overthrow 
the  foundations  of  the  government  or  to  weaken  the 
force  of  its  controlling  principles  and  ideals,  whether 
these  attempts  be  made  in  the  form  of  international 
policy  or  of  domestic  agitation. 

For  seven  years  the  national  government  has  been 
controlled  by  the  Democratic  party.  During  that 
period  a  war  of  unparalleled  magnitude  has  shaken 
the  foundations  of  civilization,  decimated  the  popula- 
tion of  Europe  and  left  in  its  train  economic  misery 
and  suffering  second  only  to  war  itself. 

The  outstanding  features  of  the  Democratic  ad- 
ministration have  been  complete  unpreparedness  for 
war  and  complete  unnpreparedness  for  peace. 

Unpreparedness  for  War 

Inexcusable  failure  to  make  timely  preparation  is 
the  chief  indictment  against  the  Democratic  adminis- 
tration in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Had  not  our 
associates  protected  us,  both  on  land  and  sea  during 
the  first  1 2  months  of  our  participation,  and  furnished 
us  to  the  very  day  of  the  armistice  with  munitions, 
planes  and  artillery,  this  failure  would  have  been 
punished  with  disaster.  It  directly  resulted  in  un- 
necessary losses  to  our  gallant  troops,  in  the  imperil- 
ment  of  victory  itself,  and  in  an  enormous  waste  of 
public  funds  literally  poured  into  the  breach  created 


by  gross  neglect.     Today  it  is  reflected  in  our  huge 
tax  burden  and  in  the  high  cost  of  living. 

Unpreparedness  for  Peace 

Peace  found  the  administration  as  unprepared  for 
peace  as  war  found  it  unprepared  for  war.  The 
vital  needs  of  the  country  demanded  the  early  and 
systematic  return  to  a  peace  time  basis.  This  called 
for  vision,  leadership  and  intelligent  planning.  All 
three  have  been  lacking.  While  the  country  has 
been  left  to  shift  for  itself,  the  government  has  con- 
tinued on  a  war-time  basis.  The  administration  has 
not  demobilized  the  army  of  place  holders.  It  con- 
tinued a  method  of  financing  which  was  indefensible 
during  the  period  of  reconstruction.  It  has  used  legis- 
lation passed  to  meet  the  emergency  of  war  to  con- 
tinue its  arbitrary  and  inquisitorial  control  over  the 
life  of  the  people  in  time  of  peace,  and  to  carry 
confusion  into  industrial  life.  Under  the  despot's 
plea  of  necessity  or  superior  wisdom,  executive 
usurpation  of  legislative  and  judicial  functions  still 
undermines  our  institutions. 

Eighteen  months  after  the  armistice,  with  its  war 
time  powers  unabridged,  its  war  time  departments  un- 
discharged, its  war  time  army  of  place  holders  still 
mobilized,  the  administration  continued  to  flounder 
helplessly. 

The  demonstrated  incapacity  of  the  Democratic 
party  has  destroyed  public  confidence,  weakened  the 
authority  of  government  and  produced  a  feeling  of 
distrust  and  hesitation  so  universal  as  to  increase 
enormously  the  difficulties  .  of  readjustment  and  to 
delay  the  return  to  normal  conditions. 

Never  has  our  nation  been  confronted  with  graver 
problems.  The  people  are  entitled  to  know  in  definite 

10 


terms  how  the  parties  purpose  solving  these  problems. 
To  that  end,  the  Republican  party  declares  its 
policies  and  program  to  be  as  follows: 

Constitutional  Government 

We  undertake  to  end  executive  autocracy  and  to 
restore  to  the  people  their  constitutional  government. 

The  policies  herein  declared  will  be  carried  out  by 
the  federal  and  state  governments,  each  acting  within 
its  constitutional  powers. 

Congress  and  Reconstruction 

Despite  the  unconstitutional  and  dictatorial  course 
of  the  president  and  the  partisan  obstruction  of  the 
Democratic  congressional  minority,  the  Republican 
majority  has  enacted  a  program  of  constructive  legis- 
lation which,  in  great  part,  however,  has  been  nulli- 
fied by  the  vindictive  vetoes  of  the  president. 

The  Republican  congress  has  met  the  problems 
presented  by  the  administrations'  unpreparedness  for 
peace.  It  has  repeated  the  greater  part  of  the  vexa- 
tious war  legislation.  It  has  enacted  a  transportation 
act  making  possible  the  rehabilitation  of  the  railroad 
systems  of  the  country,  the  operation  of  which,  under 
the  present  Democratic  administration,  has  been  very 
wasteful,  extravagant,  and  inefficient  in  the  highest 
degree.  The  transportation  act  made  provision  for 
the  peaceful  settlement  of  wage  disputes,  partially 
nullified,  however,  by  the  president's  delay  in  appoint- 
ing the  wage  board  created  by  the  act  This  delay 
precipitated  the  oulaw  railroad  strike. 

We  stopped  the  flood  of  public  treasure,  recklessly 
poured  into  the  lap  of  an  inept  shipping  board,  and 
laid  the  foundations  for  the  creation  of  a  great  mer- 
chant marine;  we  took  from  the  incompenteiit  Demo- 

11 


cratic  administration  the  administration  of  the  tele- 
graph and  telephone  lines  of  the  country  and  returned 
them  to  private  ownership;  we  reduced  the  cost  of 
postage  and  increased  the  pay  of  the  postal  employes 
— the  poorest  paid  of  all  public  servants;  we  provided 
pensions  for  superannuated  and  retired  civil  servants; 
and  for  an  increase  in  pay  of  soldiers  and  sailors. 
We  reorganized  the  army  on  a  peace  footing  and 
provided  for  the  maintenance  of  a  powerful  and 
efficient  navy. 

The  Republican  congress  established  by  law  a 
permanent  women's  bureau  in  the  department  of 
labor;  we  submitted  to  the  country  the  constitutional 
amendment  for  woman  suffrage,  and  furnished  29  of 
the  35  legislatures  which  have  ratified  it  to  date. 

Legislation  for  the  relief  of  the  consumers  of  print 
paper,  for  the  extension  of  the  powers  of  the  govern- 
ment under  food  control  act,  for  broadening  the  scope 
of  the  war  risk  insurance  act,  better  provision  for  the 
dwindling  number  of  aged  veterans  of  the  Civil  war 
and  for  the  better  support  of  the  maimed  and  injured 
of  the  great  war,  and  for  making  practical  the  vo- 
cational rehabilitation  act,  has  been  enacted  by  the 
Republican  congress. 

We  passed  an  oil  leasing  and  water  power  bill  to 
unlock  for  the  public  good  the  great  pent-up  resources 
of  the  country ;  we  have  sought  to  check  the  profligacy 
of  the  administration,  to  realize  upon  the  assets  of 
the  government  and  to  husband  the  revenues  derived 
from  taxation.  The  Republicans  in  congress  have 
been  responsible  for  cuts  in  the  estimates  for  govern- 
ment expenditure  of  nearly  $3,000,000,000,  since 
the  signing  of  the  armistice. 

We  enacted  a  national  executive  budget  law;  we 
strengthened  the  federal  reserve  act  to  permit  banks 

12 


to  lend  needed  assistance  to  farmers;  we  authorized 
financial  incorporations  to  develop  export  trade;  and 
finally  amended  the  rules  of  the  senate  and  house 
which  will  reform  evils  in  procedure  and  guarantee 
more  efficient  and  responsible  government 

Agriculture 

The  farmer  is  the  backbone  of  the  nation.  Na- 
tional greatness  and  economic  independence  demand  a 
population  to  be  distributed  between  industry  and  the 
farm  and  sharing  on  equal  terms  the  prosperity  which 
is  wholly  dependent  on  the  efforts  of  both.  Neither 
can  prosper  at  the  expense  of  the  other  without  invit- 
ing joint  disaster. 

The  crux  of  the  present  agricultural  condition  lies 
in  prices,  labor  and  credit. 

The  Republican  party  believes  that  this  condition 
can  be  improved  by  practical  and  adequate  farm 
representation  in  the  appointment  of  governmental 
officials  and  commissions;  the  right  to  form  co-opera- 
tion associations  for  marketing  their  products,  and 
protection  against  discrimination;  the  scientific  study 
of  agricultural  prices  and  farm  production  costs  at 
home  and  abroad,  with  a  view  to  reducing  the  fre- 
quency of  abnormal  fluctuations;  the  uncensored  pub- 
lications of  such  reports;  the  authorization  of  associa- 
tions for  the  extension  of  personal  credits;  a  national 
inquiry  on  the  co-ordination  of  rail,  water  and  motor 
transportation  with  adequate  facilities  for  receiving, 
handling  and  marketing  food;  the  encouragement  of 
our  export  trade;  an  end  to  unnecessary  price  fixing 
and  ill-considered  efforts  arbitrarily  to  reduce  prices 
of  farm  products  which  invariably  result  to  the  dis- 
advantage both  of  producer  and  consumer  and  the 
encouragement  of  the  production  and  importation  of 

13 


fertilizing  material  and  of  its  extensive  use. 

The  federal  farm  loan  act  should  be  so  adminis- 
tered as  to  facilitate  the  acquisition  of  farm  land  by 
those  desiring  to  become  owners  and  proprietors  and 
thus  minimize  the  evils  of  farm  tenantry  and  to  furn- 
nish  such  long  time  credits  as  farmers  may  need  to 
finance  adequately  their  larger  and  long  time  opera- 
tions. 

Industrial  Relations 

There  are  two  different  conceptions  of  the  relations 
of  capital  and  labor.  The  one  is  contractual,  and 
emphasizes  the  diversity  of  interests  of  employer  and 
employe.  The  other  is  that  of  co-partnership  in  a 
common  task. 

We  recognize  the  justice  of  collective  bargaining 
as  a  means  of  promoting  good  will,  establishing  closer 
and  more  harmonious  relations  between  employer  and 
employes  and  realizing  the  true  end  of  industrial  jus- 
tice. 

The  strike  or  the  lockout,  as  a  means  of  settling 
industrial  disputes,  inflicts  such  loss,  and  suffering  on 
the  community  as  to  justify  government  initiative  to 
reduce  its  frequency  and  limit  its  consequences. 

We  deny  the  right  to  strike  against  the  government; 
but  the  rights  and  interests  of  all  government  em- 
ployes must  be  safeguarded  by  impartial  laws  and 
tribunity. 

In  public  utilities  we  favor  the  establishment  of  an 
impartial  tribunal  to  make  an  investigation  of  the 
facts  and  to  render  a  decision  to  the  end  that  there 
may  be  no  organized  interruption  of  service  to  the 
lives  and  health  and  welfare  of  the  people.  The 
decisions  of  the  tribunals  to  be  morally  but  not 
legally  binding,  and  an  informed  public  sentiment  be 

14 


relied  on  to  secure  their  acceptance.  The  tribunal, 
however,  should  refuse  to  accept  jurisdiction  except 
for  the  purpose  of  investigation  as  long  as  the  public 
service  be  interrupted.  For  public  utilities  we  favor 
the  type  of  tribunal  provided  for  in  the  transportation 
act  of  1920. 

In  private  industries  we  do  not  advocate  the  prin- 
ciple of  compulsory  arbitration,  but  we  favor  im- 
partial commission  and  better  facilities  for  voluntary 
mediation,  conciliation  and  arbitration  supplemented 
by  that  full  publicity  which  will  enlist  the  influence 
of  an  aroused  public  opinion.  The  government  should 
take  the  initiative  in  inviting  the  establishment  of  tri- 
bunals or  commissions  for  the  purpose  of  voluntary 
arbitration  and  investigation  of  this  issue. 

We  demand  the  exclusion  from  interstate  commerce 
of  the  products  of  convict  labor. 

National  Economy 

A  Republican  congress  reduced  the  estimates  sub- 
mitted by  the  administration  for  the  fiscal  year  1920 
almost  $3,000,000,000  and  for  the  fiscal  year  1921 
more  than  $1,250,000,000.  Greater  economies 
could  have  been  effected  had  it  not  been  for  the 
stubborn  refusal  of  the  administration  to  co-operate 
with  congress  in  an  economy  program.  The  universal 
demand  for  an  executive  budget  is  a  recognition  of 
the  incontrovertible  fact  that  leadership  and  sincere 
assistance  on  the  part  of  the  executive  departments 
are  essential  to  effective  economy  and  constructive 
retrenchment. 

The  Overman  act  invested  the  president  of  the 
United  States  with  all  the  authority  and  power  to 
restore  the  federal  government  to  a  normal  peace 
basis  and  to  reorganize,  retrench  and  demobilize. 

15 


The  dominant  fact  is  that  18  months  after  the  armis- 
tice, the  United  Staes  government  is  still  on  a  war- 
time basis,  and  the  expenditure  program  of  the  execu- 
tive reflects  war-time  extravagance  rather  than  rigid 
peace  time  economy. 

As  an  example  of  the  failure  to  retrench  which 
has  characterized  the  post-war  policy  of  the  admin- 
istration we  cite  the  fact  that  not  including  the  war 
and  navy  departments,  the  executive  departments  and 
other  establishments  at  Washington  actually  record 
an  increase  subsequent  to  the  armistice  of  2,184  em- 
ployes. The  net  decrease  in  payroll  costs  contained 
in  the  1921  demands  submitted  by  the  administration 
is  only  one  per  cent  under  that  of  1 920.  The  annual 
expenses  of  federal  operation  can  be  reduced  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  dollars  without  impairing  the 
efficiency  of  the  public  service. 

We  pledge  ourselves  to  a  carefully  planned  read- 
justment to  a  peace  time  basis  and  to  a  policy  of 
rigid  economy,  to  the  better  co-ordination  of  depart- 
mental activities,  to  the  elimination  of  unnecessary 
officials  and  employes,  and  to  the  raising  of  the 
standard  of  individual  efficiency. 

The  Executive  Budget 

We  congratulate  the  Republican  congress  on  the 
enactment  of  a  law  providing  for  the  establishment 
of  an  executive  budget  as  a  necessary  instrument  for 
a  sound  and  businesslike  administration  of  the  na- 
tional finances ;  and  we  condemn  the  veto  of  the  presi- 
dent which  defeated  this  great  financial  reform. 

Reorganization   of   Federal   Departments 
and  Bureaus 

We  advocate  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  pres- 

16 


ent  organization  of  the  federal  departments  and 
bureaus,  with  a  view  to  securing  consolidation  of 
functions,  the  elimination  of  duplication,  delays  and 
overlapping  of  work  and  the  establishment  of  an  up- 
to-date  and  efficient  administrative  organization. 

War  Powers  of  the  President 

The  president  clings  tenaciously  to  his  autocratic 
war  time  powers. 

His  veto  of  the  resolution  declaring  peace  and  his 
refusal  to  sign  the  bill  repealing  war  time  legislation 
no  longer  necessary  evidence  his  determination  not  to 
restore  to  the  nation  and  to  the  states  the  form  of 
government  provided  for  by  the  constitution.  This 
usurpation  is  intolerable  and  deserves  the  severest 
condemnation. 

Taxation 

The  burden  of  taxation  imposed  upon  the  Ameri- 
can people  is  staggering;  but  in  presenting  a  true 
statement  of  the  situation  we  must  face  the  fact  that 
while  the  character  of  the  taxes  can  and  should  be 
changed,  an  early  reduction  of  the  amount  of  revenue 
to  be  raised  is  not  to  be  expected. 

The  next  Republican  administration  will  inherit 
from  its  Democratic  predecessor  a  floating  indebted- 
ness of  more  than  $3,000,000,000,  the  prompt 
liquidation  of  which  is  demanded  by  sound  financial 
considerations.  Moreover,  the  whole  fiscal  policy  of 
the  government  must  be  deeply  influenced  by  the 
necessity  of  meeting  obligations  in  excess  of  $5,000,- 
000,000  which  mature  in  1923.  But  sound  policy 
equally  demands  the  early  accomplishment  of  that 
real  reduction  of  the  tax  burden  which  may  be 
achieved  by  substituting  simple  for  complex  tax  laws 

17 


and  procedure,  prompt  and  certain  determination  of 
the  tax  liability  for  delay  and  uncertainty,  tax  laws 
which  do  not  so  excessively  mulct  the  consumer  by 
needlessly  repressing  enterprise  and  that  they  be  fair. 
We  advocate  the  issuance  of  a  simplified  form  of 
income  return;  authorizing  the  treasury  department 
to  make  changes  in  regulations  effective  only  from 
the  date  of  their  approval;  empowering  the  commis- 
sioner of  internal  revenue,  with  the  consent  of  the 
taxpayer  to  make  final  and  conclusive  settlements  of 
tax  claims  and  assessments  barring  fraud,  and  the 
creation  of  a  tax  board  consisting  of  at  least  three 
representatives  of  the  taxpaying  public  and  the  heads 
of  the  principal  divisions  of  the  bureau  of  internal 
revenue  to  act  as  a  standing  committee  on  the  simpli- 
fication of  forms,  procedure  and  law,  and  to  make 
recommendations  to  the  congress. 

Banking  and  Currency 

The  fact  is  that  the  war  to  a  great  extent  was 
financed  by  a  policy  of  inflation  through  certificate 
borrowing  from  the  banks,  and  bonds  issued  at  arti- 
ficial rates  sustained  by  the  low  discounts  established 
by  the  federal  reserve  board.  The  continuance  of 
this  policy  since  the  armistice  lays  the  administration 
open  to  severe  criticism.  Almost  up  to  the  present 
time,  the  practices  of  the  federal  reserve  board  as  to 
credit  control  have  been  frankly  dominated  by  the 
convenience  of  the  treasury. 

The  results  have  been  a  greatly  increased  war 
cost,  a  serious  loss  to  the  millions  of  people  who  in 
good  faith  bought  Liberty  bonds  and  Victory  notes 
at  par,  and  extensive  post-war  speculation,  followed 
today  by  a  restricted  credit  for  legitimate  industrial 
expansion.  As  a  matter  of  public  policy,  we  urge 

18 


all   banks  to  give   credit  preference   to   essential   in- 
dustries. 

The  federal  reserve  system  should  be  free  from 
political  influence,  which  is  quite  as  important  as  its 
independence  of  domination  by  financial  combinations. 

The  High  Cost  of  Living 

The  prime  cause  of  the  "high  cost  of  living"  has 
been,  first  and  foremost,  a  50  per  cent  depreciation 
in  the  purchasing  power  of  the  dollar  due  to  a  gross 
expansion  of  our  currency  and  credit.  Reduced 
production,  burdensome  taxation,  swollen  profits,  and 
the  increased  demand  for  goods  arising  from  a  fic- 
titious, but  enlarged  buying  power  have  been  con- 
tributing causes  in  a  greater  or  less  degree. 

We  condemn  the  unsound  fiscal  policies  of  the 
Democratic  administration  which  have  brought  these 
things  to  pass,  and  their  attempts  to  impute  the  con- 
sequences to  minor  and  secondary  causes.  Much  of 
the  injury  wrought  is  irreparable.  There  is  no  short 
way  out,  and  we  decline  to  deceive  the  people  with 
vain  promises  or  quack  remedies.  But  as  the  party 
that  throughout  its  history  has  stood  for  honest  money 
and  sound  finance,  we  pledge  ourselves  to  earnest 
and  consistent  attack  upon  the  high  cost  of  living  by 
rigorous  avoidance  of  further  inflation  in  our  govern- 
ment borrowing,  by  courageous  and  intelligent  defla- 
tion of  over-expanded  credit  and  currency,  by  en- 
couragement of  heightened  production  of  goods  and 
services,  by  prevention  of  unreasonable  profits,  by 
exercise  of  public  economy  and  stimulation  of  private 
thrift  and  by  revision  of  war-imposed  taxes  unsuited 
to  peace  time  economy. 

Profiteering 

We   condemn   the   Democratic    administration    for 

19 


Railroads 

failure  impartially  to  enforce  the  anti-profiteering  laws 
enacted  by  the  Republican  congress. 

We  are  opposed  to  government  ownership  and 
operation  or  employes'  operation  of  the  railroads.  In 
view  of  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the  country 
the  expenditures  of  the  last  two  years  and  the  con- 
clusions which  may  be  fairly  drawn  from  an  obser- 
vation of  the  transportation  systems  of  other  countries, 
it  is  clear  that  adequate  transportation  service,  both 
for  the  present  and  future  can  be  furnished  more  cer- 
tainly, economically  and  efficiently  through  private 
ownership  and  operation  under  proper  regulation  and 
control. 

There  should  be  no  speculative  profit  in  rendering 
the  service  of  transportation ;  but  in  order  to  do  justice 
to  the  capital  already  invested  in  railway  enterprises, 
to  restore  railway  credit,  to  induce  future  investments 
at  a  reasonable  rate  and  to  furnish  enlarged  facilities 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  constantly  increasing 
development  and  distribution,  a  fair  return  upon  actual 
value  of  the  railway  property  used  in  transportation 
should  be  made  reasonably  sure,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  provide  constant  employment  to  those  engaged 
in  transportaion  service  with  fair  hours  and  favorable 
working  conditions  at  wages  or  compensation  at  least 
equal  to  those  prevailing  in  similar  lines  of  industry. 

We  indorse  the  transportation  act  of  1920  enacted 
by  the  Republican  congress  as  a  most  conservative 
legislative  achievement. 

Waterways 

We  declare  it  to  be  our  policy  to  encourage  and 
develop  water  transportation  service  and  facilities  in 

20 


connection  with  the  commerce  of  the  United  States. 

Regulation  of  Industry  and  Commerce 

We  approve  in  general  the  existing  federal  legisla- 
tion against  monopoly  and  combinations  in  restraint 
of  trade,  but  since  the  known  certainty  of  a  law  is 
the  safest  of  all,  we  advocate  such  amendment  as 
will  provide  American  business  men  with  better 
means  of  determining  in  advance  whether  a  pro- 
posed combination  is  or  is  not  unlawful.  The  fed- 
eral trade  commission,  under  a  Democratic  ad- 
ministration, has  not  accomplished  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  created.  This  commission  properly 
organized  and  its  duties  efficiently  administered  should 
afford  protection  to  the  public  and  legitimate  business 
in  this.  There  should  be  no  persecution  of  honest 
business,  but  to  the  extent  that  circumstances  war- 
rant we  pledge  ourselves  to  strengthen  the  law  against 
unfair  practices. 

We  pledge  the  party  to  an  immediate  resumption 
of  trade  relations  with  every  nation  with  which  we 
are  at  peace. 

International  Trade  and  Tariff 

The  uncertain  and  unsettled  conditions  of  inter- 
national balances  and  the  abnormal  economic  and 
trade  situation  of  the  world  and  the  impossibility  of 
forecasting  accurately  even  the  near  future,  preclude 
the  formulation  of  a  definite  program  to  meet  condi- 
tions a  year  hence.  But  the  Republican  party  re- 
affirmed its  belief  in  the  protective  principle,  and 
pledged  itself  to  a  revision  of  the  tariff  as  soon  as 
conditions  shall  make  it  necessary  for  the  preservation 
of  the  home  market  for  American  labor,  agriculture 
and  industry. 

21 


Merchant  Marine 

The  national  defense  and  our  foreign  commerce 
require  a  merchant  marine  of  the  best  type  of  mod- 
ern ships  flying  the  American  flag,  manned  by  Ameri- 
can seamen,  owned  by  private  capital  and  operated 
by  private  energy. 

We  indorse  the  sound  legislation  recently  enacted 
by  the  Republican  congress  that  will  insure  the  pro- 
motion and  maintenance  of  the  American  merchant 
marine. 

We  favor  the  application  of  the  workmen's  com- 
pensation act  to  the  merchant  marine. 

We  recommend  that  all  ships  engaged  in  coast- 
wise trade  and  all  vessels  of  the  American  merchant 
marine  shall  pass  through  the  Panama  canal  without 
premium  of  tolls. 

Immigration 

The  standard  of  living  and  the  standard  of  citizen- 
ship are  its  most  precious  possessions  and  the  preserva- 
tion and  elevation  of  these  standards  is  the  first  duty 
of  our  government. 

The  immigration  policy  of  the  United  States 
should  be  such  as  to  insure  that  the  number  of  for- 
eigners in  the  country  at  any  one  time  shall  not 
exceed  that  which  can  be  assimilated  with  reasonable 
rapidity,  and  to  favor  immigrants  whose  standards  are 
similar  to  ours. 

The  selective  tests  that  are  at  present  applied 
could  be  improved  by  requesting  a  higher  physical 
standard,  a  more  complete  exclusion  of  mental  defec- 
tives and  of  criminals  and  of  a  more  effective  in- 
spection applied  as  near  the  source  of  immigration  as 
possible  as  well  as  at  the  port  of  entry.  Justice  to 

22 


the  foreigner  and  to  ourselves  demands  provision  for 
the  guidance,  protection  and  better  economic  distri- 
bution of  our  alien  population.  To  facilitate  govern- 
men  supervision,  all  aliens  should  be  required  to. 
register  annually  until  they  become  naturalized. 

The  existing  policy  of  the  United  States  for  the 
practical  exclusion  of  Asiatic  immigration  is  sound, 
and  should  be  maintained. 

Naturalization 

There  is  urgent  need  of  improvement  in  our 
naturalization  laws.  No  alien  should  become  a  citi- 
zen until  he  had  become  genuinely  American  and 
tests  for  determining  the  alien's  fitness  for  American 
citizenship  should  be  provided  for  by  law. 

We  advocate  in  addition,  the  independent  natural- 
ization of  married  women.  An  American  woman 
should  not  lose  her  citizenship  by  marriage  to  an  alien 
resident  in  the  United  States. 

Free  Speech  and  Alien  Agitation 

We  demand  that  every  American  citizen  shall  en- 
joy the  ancient  and  constitutional  right  of  free  speech, 
free  press  and  free  assembly  and  the  no  less  sacred 
right  of  the  qualified  voter  to  be  represented  by  his 
duly  chosen  representatives;  but  no  man  may  advo- 
cate resistance  to  the  law,  and  no  man  may  advocate 
violent  overthrow  of  the  government. 

AKens  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
are  not  entitled  of  right  to  liberty  of  agitation  di- 
rected against  the  government  or  American  institu- 
tions. 

Every  government  has  the  power  to  exclude  and 
deport  these  aliens  who  constitute  a  real  menace  to  its 
peaceful  existence.  But  in  view  of  the  large  numbers 

23 


of  people  affected  by  the  immigration  acts  and  in 
view  of  the  vigorous  malpractice  of  the  departments 
of  justice  and  labor,  an  adequate  public  hearing 
before  a  competent  administrative  tribunal  should  be 
assured  to  all. 

Lynching 

We  urge  congress  to  consider  the  most  effective 
means  to  end  lynching  in  this  country  which  continues 
to  be  a  terrible  blot  on  our  American  citizenship. 

Public  Roads  and  Highways 

We  favor  liberal  appropriations  in  co-operation 
with  the  states  for  the  construction  of  highways, 
which  will  bring  about  a  reduction  in  transportation 
costs,  better  marketing  of  farm  products,  improvement 
in  rural  postal  delivery,  as  well  as  meet  the  needs  of 
military  defense. 

In  determining  the  proportion  of  federal  aid  for 
road  construction  among  the  states,  the  sums  lost  in 
taxation  to  the  respective  states  by  the  setting  apart 
of  large  portions  of  their  area  as  forest  reservations, 
should  be  considered  as  a  controlling  factor. 

Conservation  is  a  Republican  policy.  It  began 
with  the  passage  of  the  reclamation  act  signed  by 
President  Roosevelt.  The  recent  passage  of  the 
coal,  oil  and  phosphate  bill  by  a  Republican  congress 
and  the  enactment  of  the  water  power  bill  fashioned 
in  accordance  with  the  same  principles  are  consistent 
landmarks  in  the  development  of  the  conservation  of 
our  national  resources.  We  denounce  the  refusal 
of  the  president  to  sign  the  water  power  bill  passed 
after  10  years  of  controversy. 

The  Republican  party  has  taken  an  especially  hon- 
orable part  in  saving  our  national  forests  and  in  the 

24 


effort  to  establish  a  national  forest  policy.  Our  most 
pressing  conservation  question  relates  to  our  forests. 
We  are  using  our  forest  resources  faster  than  they  are 
being  renewed.  The  result  is  to  raise  unduly  the 
cost  of  forest  products  to  consumers  and  especially 
farmers,  who  use  more  than  half  the  lumber  produced 
in  America,  and  in  the  end  to  create  a  timber  famine. 
The  federal  government,  the  states  and  private  inter- 
ests must  unite  in  devising  means  to  meet  the  menace. 

Reclamation 

We  favor  a  fixed  and  comprehensive  policy  of 
reclamation  to  increase  national  wealth  and  produc- 
tion. 

We  recognize  in  the  development  of  reclamation 
through  federal  action  with  its  increase  of  production 
and  taxable  wealth  a  safeguard  for  the  nation.  We 
commend  to  congress  a  policy  to  reclaim  lands  and 
the  establishment  of  a  fixed  national  policy  of  de- 
velopment of  natural  resources  in  relation  to  reclama- 
tion through  the  now  designated  government  agencies. 

The  Service  Men 

We  hold  in  imperishable  remembrance  the  valor 
and  the  patriotism  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of 
America  who  fought  in  the  great  war  for  human 
liberty,  and  we  pledge  ourselves  to  discharge  to  the 
fullest  the  obligations  which  a  grateful  nation  justly 
should  fulfill,  in  appreciation  of  the  service  rendered 
by  its  defenders  on  sea  and  on  land. 

Republicans  are  not  ungrateful.  Throughout 
their  history  they  have  shown  their  gratitude  toward 
the  nation's  defenders.  Liberal  legislation  for  the 
care  of  the  disabled  and  infirm  and  their  dependents 
has  ever  marked  Republican  policy  toward  the  soldier 

25 


and  sailor  of  all  the  wars  in  which  our  country  has 
participated.  The  present  congress  has  appropriated 
generously  for  the  disabled  of  the  world  war.  The 
amounts  already  applied  and  authorized  for  the  fiscal 
year  1 920-2 1  for  the  purpose  reached  the  stupendous 
sum  of  $1,180,571,893.  The  legislation  is  signi- 
ficant of  the  party's  purpose  in  generously  caring  for 
the  maimed  and  disabled  men  of  the  recent  war. 

Civil  Service 

We  renew  our  repeated  declaration  that  the  civil 
service  law  shall  be  thoroughly  and  honestly  enforced 
and  extended  wherever  practicable.  The  recent  ac- 
tion of  congress  in  enacting  a  comprehensive  civil 
service  retirement  law  and  in  working  out  a  compre- 
hensive employment  and  wage  policy  that  will  guar- 
antee equal  and  just  treatment  to  the  army  of  govern- 
ment workers,  and  in  centralizing  the  administration 
of  the  new  and  progressive  employment  policy  in  the 
hands  of  the  civil  service  commission  is  worthy  of  all 
praise. 

Postal  Service 

We  condemn  the  present  administration  for  its 
destruction  of  the  efficiency  of  the  postal  service  and 
the  telegraph  and  telephone  service  when  controlled 
by  the  government,  and  for  its  failure  to  properly 
compensate  employes  whose  expert  knowledge  is  es- 
sential to  the  proper  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the 
postal  system.  We  commend  the  Republican  con- 
gress for  the  enactment  of  legislation  increasing  the 
pay  of  postal  employes,  who  up  to  that  time  were  the 
poorest  paid  in  the  government  service. 

Woman  Suffrage 

We  welcome  women  into  full  participation  in  the 
26 


affairs  of  government  and  the  activities  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.  We  earnestly  hope  that  Republican 
legislatures  in  states  which  have  not  yet  acted  upon 
the  suffrage  amendment  will  ratify  the  amendment, 
to  the  end  that  all  of  the  women  of  the  nation  of 
voting  age  may  participate  in  the  election  of  1920, 
which  is  so  important  to  the  welfare  of  our  country. 

Social  Progress 

The  supreme  duty  of  the  nation  is  the  conservation 
of  human  resources  through  an  enlightened  measure 
of  social  and  industrial  justice.  Although  the  federal 
jurisdiction  over  social  problems,  they  affect  the  wel- 
fare and  interests  of  the  nation  as  a  whole.  We 
pledge  the  Republican  party  to  the  solution  of  these 
problems  through  national  and  state  legislation  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  best  progressive  thought  of  the 
country. 

Education  and  Health 

We  indorse  the  principle  of  federal  aid  to  the 
states  for  the  purposes  of  vocational  and  agricultural 
training. 

Wherever  federal  money  is  devoted  to  education, 
such  education  must  be  so  directed  as  to  awaken  in 
the  youth  the  spirit  of  America  and  a  sense  of  pa- 
triotic duty  to  the  United  States. 

A  thorough  system  of  physical  education  for  all 
children  up  to  the  age  of  19,  including  adequate 
health  supervision  and  instruction,  would  remedy  con- 
ditions revealed  by  the  draft  and  would  add  to  the 
economic  and  industrial  strength  of  the  nation.  Na- 
tional leadership  and  stimulation  will  be  necessary 
to  induce  the  states  to  adopt  a  wise  system  of  physical 
training. 

27 


The  public  health  activities  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment are  scattered  through  numerous  departments  and 
bureaus,  resulting  in  inefficiency,  duplication  and  ex- 
travagance. We  advocate  a  greater  centralization  of 
the  federal  functions,  and  in  addition  urge  the  better 
co-ordination  of  the  work  of  the  federal,  state,  and 
local  health  agencies. 

Child  Labor 

The  Republican  party  stands  for  a  federal  child 
labor  law  and  for  its  rigid  enforcement.  If  the  pres- 
ent law  be  found  un  constitutional  or  ineffective,  we 
shall  seek  other  means  to  enable  congress  to  prevent 
the  evils  of  child  labor. 

Women  in  Industry 

Women  have  special  problems  of  employment, 
which  make  necessary  special  study.  We  commend 
congress  for  the  permanent  establishment  of  the 
women's  bureau  in  the  United  States  department  of 
labor  to  serve  as  a  source  of  information  to  the  states 
and  to  congress. 

The  principle  of  equal  pay  for  equal  service  should 
be  applied  throughout  all  branches  of  the  federal 
government  in  which  women  are  employed. 

Federal  aid  for  vocational  training  should  take 
into  consideration  the  special  aptitudes  and  needs  of 
women  workers. 

We  demand  federal  legislation  to  limit  the  hours 
of  employment  of  women  engaged  in  intensive  indus- 
try, the  product  of  which  enters  into  interstate  com- 
merce. 

Housing 

The  housing  shortage  has  not  only  compelled  care- 

28 


ful  study  of  ways  of  stimulating  building,  but  it  has 
brought  into  relief  the  unsatisfactory  character  of  the 
housing  accommodations  of  large  numbers  of  inhabi- 
tants of  our  cities.  A  nation  of  home-owners  is  the 
best  guarantee  of  the  maintenance  of  those  principles 
of  liberty  and  law  and  order  upon  which  our  govern- 
ment is  founded.  Both  national  and  state  govern- 
ments should  encourage  in  all  proper  ways  the  acquir- 
ing of  homes  by  our  citizens.  The  United  States 
government  should  make  available  the  valuable  in- 
formation on  housing  and  town  planning  collected 
during  the  war.  This  information  should  be  kept  up- 
to-date  and  made  currently  available. 

Hawaii 

For  Hawaii  we  recommend  federal  assistance  in 
Americanizing  and  educating  their  greatly  dispro- 
portionate foreign  population;  home  rule;  and  the  re- 
habilitation of  the  Hawaiian  race. 

Mexico 

The  ineffective  policy  of  the  present  administration 
in  Mexican  matters  has  been  largely  responsible  for 
the  continued  loss  of  American  lives  in  that  country 
and  upon  our  border;  for  the  enormous  loss  of 
American  and  foreign  property;  for  the  lowering  of 
American  standards  of  morality  and  social  relations 
with  Mexicans,  and  for  the  bringing  of  American 
ideals  of  justice  and  national  honor  and  political  in- 
tegrity into  contempt  and  ridicule  in  Mexico  and 
throughout  the  world. 

The  policy  of  wordy,  futile  written  protests  against 
the  acts  of  Mexican  officials,  explained  the  following 
day  by  the  president  himself  as  being  meaningless 
and  not  intended  to  be  considered  seriously  or  en- 

29 


forced,  has  but  added  in  degree  to  that  content  and 
has  earned  for  us  the  sneers  and  jeers  of  Mexican 
bandits  and  added  insult  upon  insult  against  our  na- 
tional honor  and  dignity. 

We  should  not  recognize  any  Mexican  government 
unless  it  be  a  responsible  government,  willing  and  able 
to  give  sufficient  guarantees  that  the  lives  and  prop- 
erty of  American  citizens  are  respected  and  protected, 
that  wrongs  will  be  promptly  corrected  and  just 
compensation  will  be  made  for  injury  sustained.  The 
Republican  party  pledges  itself  to  a  consistent,  firm 
and  effective  policy  toward  Mexico  that  shall  enforce 
respect  for  the  American  flag  and  that  shall  protect 
the  rights  of  American  citizens  lawfully  in  Mexico 
to  security  of  life  and  enjoyment  of  property,  in  con- 
nection with  an  established  international  law  and  our 
treaty  rights. 

The  Republican  party  is  a  sincere  friend  of  the 
Mexican  people.  In  its  insistence  upon  the  mainten- 
ance of  order  for  the  protection  of  American  citizens 
within  its  borders,  a  great  service  will  be  rendered 
the  Mexican  people  themselves  for  a  continuation 
of  present  conditions  means  disaster  to  their  interests 
and  patriotic  aspirations. 

Armenia  Mandate 

We  eondemn  President  Wilson  for  asking  con- 
gress to  empower  him  to  accept  a  mandate  for 
Armenia.  The  acceptance  of  such  mandate  would 
throw  the  United  States  into  the  very  maelstrom  of 
European  quarrels.  According  to  the  estimate  of  the 
Harbord  commission,  organized  by  authority  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  we  would  be  called  upon  to  send 
59,000  American  boys  to  police  Armenia  and  to 
expend  $276,000,000  in  the  first  year  and  $756,- 

30 


000,000  in  five  years.  This  estimate  is  made  upon 
the  basis  that  we  would  have  only  roving  bands  to 
fight,  but  in  case  of  a  serious  trouble  with  the  Turks 
or  with  Russia,  a  force  exceeding  200,000  would 
be  necessary. 

No  more  striking  illustration  can  be  found  of 
President  Wilson's  disregard  of  the  lives  of  American 
boys  or  American  interests. 

We  deeply  sympathize  with  the  people  of  Ar- 
menia and  stand  ready  to  help  them  in  all  proper 
ways,  but  the  Republican  party  will  oppose  now 
and  hereafter  the  acceptance  of  a  mandate  for  any 
country  in  Europe  or  Asia. 

League  of  Nations 

The  foreign  policy  of  the  administration  has  been 
founded  upon  no  principle  and  directed  by  no  definite 
conception  of  our  nation's  rights  and  obligations.  It 
has  been  humiliating  to  America  and  irritating  to 
other  nations,  with  die  result  that  after  a  period  of 
unexampled  sacrifice,  our  motives  are  suspected,  our 
moral  influence  impaired,  and  our  government  stands 
discredited  and  friendless  among  the  nations  of  the 
world. 

We  favor  a  liberal  and  generous  foreign  policy 
founded  upon  definite  moral  and  political  principles, 
characterized  by  a  clear  understanding  of  and  firm 
adherence  of  our  own  rights  and  unfailing  respect 
for  the  rights  of  others.  We  should  afford  full  and 
adequate  protection  to(  the  life,  liberty  and  property 
and  all  international  rights  of  every  American  citizen 
and  should  require  a  proper  respect  for  the  American 
flag;  but  we  should  be  equally  careful  to  manifest  a 
just  regard  for  the  rights  of  other  nations. 

A  scrupulous  observance   of  our  international  en- 

31 


gagements,  when  lawfully  assumed,  is  essential  to  our 
own  honor  and  self-respect,  and  the  respect  of  other 
nations.  Subject  to  a  due  regard  for  our  international 
obligations,  we  should  leave  our  country  free  to 
develop  its  civilization  along  the  line  most  conducive 
to  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  the  people,  and  to 
cast  its  influence  on  the  side  of  justice  and  right 
should  occasion  require. 

The  Republican  party  stands  for  agreement  among 
the  nations  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  world.  We 
believe  that  such  an  international  association  must  be 
based  upon  international  justice,  and  must  provide 
methods  which  shall  maintain  the  rule  of  public  right 
by  development  of  law  and  the  decision  of  impartial 
courts,  and  which  shall  secure  instant  and  general 
international  conference  whenever  peace  shall  be 
threatened  by  political  action,  so  that  the  nations 
pledged  to  do  and  insist  upon  what  is  just  and  fair 
may  exercise  their  influence  and  power  for  the  pre- 
vention of  war. 

We  believe  that  all  this  can  be  done  without  the 
compromise  of  national  independence,  without  de- 
priving the  people  of  the  United  States  in  advance  of 
the  right  to  determine  for  themselves  what  is  just  and 
fair,  when  the  occasion  arises,  and  without  involving 
them  as  participants  and  not  as  peacemakers  in  a 
multitude  of  quarrels,  the  merits  of  which  they  are 
unable  to  judge. 

The  covenant,  signed  by  the  president  at  Paris, 
failed  signally  to  accomplish  this  purpose,  and  con- 
tained stipulations  not  only  intolerable  for  an  inde- 
pendent people  but  certain  to  produce  the  injustice, 
hostility  and  controversy  among  nations  which  it  pro- 
posed to  prevent. 

That  covenant  repudiated  to  a  degree  wholly  un- 

32 


necessary  and  unjustifiable,  the  time  honored  policy 
in  favor  of  peace  declared  by  Washington  and  Jeffer- 
son and  Monroe  and  pursued  by  all  American  ad- 
ministrators for  more  than  a  century,  and  it  ignored 
the  universal  sentiments  of  America  for  generations 
past,  in  favor  of  international  law  and  arbitration  and 
it  rested  the  hope  of  the  future  upon  mere  expediency 
and  negotiations. 

The  unfortunate  insistence  of  the  president  upon 
having  his  own  way  without  any  change,  and 
without  any  regard  to  the  opinion  of  a  majority  of 
the  senate,  which  shares  with  him  the  treaty  making 
power,  ~and  the  president's  demand  that  the  treaty 
should  be  ratified  without  any  modification,  created 
a  situation  in  which  senators  were  required  to  vote 
upon  their  consciences  and  their  oaths  according  ta 
their  judgment  upon  the  treaty  as  it  was  presented, 
or  submit  to  the  commands  of  a  dictator  in  a  matter 
where  the  authority  under  the  constitution  was  theirs 
and  not  his. 

The  senators  performed  their  duty  faithfully.  We 
approve  their  conduct  and  honor,  their  courage  and 
fidelity  and  we  pledge  the  coming  Republican  ad- 
ministration to  such  agreement  with  the  other  nations 
of  the  world  as  shall  meet  the  full  duty  of  America 
to  civilization  and  humanity  in  accordance  with 
American  ideals,  and  without  surrendering  the  right 
of  the  American  people  to  exercise  its  judgment  and 
its  power  in  favor  of  justice  and  peace, 

Peroration 

Pointing  to  its  history  and  relying  upon  its  funda- 
mental principles  we  declare  that  the  Republican 
party  has  the  generous  courage  and  constructive 
ability  to  end  executive  usurpation  and  restore  consti- 

33 


tutional  government;  to  fulfill  our  world  obligations 
without  sacrificing  our  national  independence;  to 
raise  the  national  standard  of  education,  health  and 
general  welfare;  to  re-establish  a  peace-time  adminis- 
tration and  to  substitute  economy  and  efficiency  for 
extravagance  and  chaos;  to  restore  and  maintain 
the  national  credits;  to  reform  unequal  and  burden- 
some taxes;  to  free  business  from  arbitrary  and  un- 
necessary official  control;  to  suppress  disloyalty  with- 
out denial  of  justice;  to  repeal  the  arrogant  challenge 
of  any  class;  and  to  maintain  a  government  of  all 
the  people  as  contrasted  with  government  for  some  of 
the  people,  and,  finally,  to  allay  unrest,  suspicion  and 
strife,  and  to  secure  the  co-operation  and  unity  of  all 
citizens  in  the  solution  of  the  complex  problems  of  the 
day,  to  the  end  that  our  country,  happy  and  prosper- 
ous, proud  of  its  past,  sure  of  itself  and  its  institu- 
tions, may  look  forward  with  confidence  to  the  future. 


34 


The  Platform  as  adopted  by  the 
Democratic  National  Conven- 
tion, San  Francisco,  1920: 

The  Democratic  party,  in  its  national  convention 
now  assembled,  sends  greetings  to  the  president  of 
the  United  States,  Woodrow  Wilson,  and  hails  with 
patriotic  pride  the  great  achievements  for  country  and 
the  world  wrought  by  a  Democratic  administration 
under  his  leadership. 

It  salutes  the  mighty  people  of  this  great  republic, 
emerging  with  imperishable  honor  from  the  severe 
tests  and  grievous  strains  of  the  most  tragic  war  in 
history,  having  earned  the  plaudits  and  the  gratitude 
of  all  free  nations. 

It  declares  its  adherence  to  the  fundamental  pro- 
gressive principles  of  social,  economic,  and  industrial 
justice  and  advancement,  and  purposes  to  resume  the 
great  work  of  translating  these  principles  into  effec- 
tive laws,  begun  and  carried  far  by  the  Democratic 
administration  and  interrupted  only  when  the  war 
claimed  all  the  national  energies  for  the  single  task 
of  victory. 

League  of  Nations 

The  Democratic  party  favors  the  league  of  nations 
as  the  surest,  if  not  the  only,  practicable  means  of 
maintaining  the  permanent  peace  of  the  world  and 
terminating  the  insufferable  burden  of  great  military 
and  naval  establishments. 

It  was  for  this  that  America  broke  away  from 
traditional  isolation  and  spent  her  blood  and  treasure 
to  crush  a  colossal  scheme  of  conquest.  It  was  upon 
this  basis  that  the  president  of  the  United  States,  in 
^rearrangement  with  our  allies,  consented  to  a  suspen- 
sion of  hostilities  against  the  Imperial  German 

35 


government;  the  armistice  was  granted  and  a  treaty 
of  peace  negotiated  upon  the  definite  assurance  to 
Germany,  as  well  as  to  the  powers  pitted  against 
Germany,  that  "a  general  association  of  nations  must 
be  formed  under  specific  covenants  for  the'  purpose 
of  affording  mutual  guarantees  of  political  indepen- 
dence and  territorial  integrity  to  great  and  small 
states  alike." 

Hence,  we  not  only  congratulate  the  president  on 
the  vision  manifested  and  the  vigor  exhibited  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war,  but  we  felicitate  him  and  his 
associates  on  the  exceptional  achievements  at  Paris 
involved  in  the  adoption  of  a  league  and  treaty  so 
near  akin  to  previously  expressed  American  ideals 
and  so  intimately  related  to  the  aspirations  of  civilized 
peoples  everywhere. 

We  commend  the  president  for  his  courage  and 
his  high  conception  of  good  faith  in  steadfastly 
standing  for  the  covenant  agreed  to  by  all  the  asso- 
ciated and  allied  nations  at  war  with  Germany,  and 
we  condemn  the  Republican  senate  for  its  refusal  to 
ratify  the  treaty  merely  because  it  was  the  product 
of  Democratic  statesmanship,  thus  interposing  partisan 
envy  and  personal  hatred  in  the  way  of  the  peace 
and  renewed  prosperity  of  the  world. 

By  every  accepted  standard  of  international  mor- 
ality the  president  is  justified  in  asserting  that  the 
honor  of  the  country  is  involved  in  this  business; 
and  we  point  to  the  accusing  fact  that  before  it  was 
determined  to  initiate  political  antagonism  to  the 
treaty  the  now  Republican  chairman  of  the  senate 
foreign  relations  committee  himself  publicly  pro- 
claimed that  any  proposition  for  a  separate  peace 
with  Germany,  such  as  he  and  his  party  associates 
thereafter  reported  to  the  senate,  would  make  us 

36 


"guilty  of  the  blackest  crime." 

On  May  15th  last  the  Knox  substitute  for  the 
Versailles  treaty  was  passed  by  the  Republican 
senate;  and  this  convention  can  contrive  no  more 
fitting  characterization  of  its  obloquy  than  that  made 
in  the  Forum  Magazine  of  December,  1918,  by 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  when  he  said: 

"If  we  send  our  armies  and  young  men  abroad 
to  be  killed  and  wounded  in  northern  France  and 
Flanders  with  no  result  but  this,  our  entrance  into 
war  with  such  an  intention  was  a  crime  which 
nothing  can  justify. 

"The  intent  of  congress  and  the  intent  of  the 
president  was  that  there  could  be  no  peace  until  we 
could  create  a  situation  where  no  such  war  as  this 
could  recur.  We  cannot  make  peace  except  in  com- 
pany with  our  allies.  It  would  brand  us  with  ever- 
lasting dishonor  and  bring  ruin  to  us  also  if  we  under- 
took to  make  a  separate  peace." 

Thus  to  that  which  Mr.  Lodge,  in  saner  moments, 
considered  "the  blackest  crime"  he  and  his  party  in 
madness  sought  to  give  the  sanctity  of  law;  that 
which  eighteen  months  ago  was  of  "everlasting  dis- 
honor," the  Republican  party  and  its  candidates 
today  accept  as  the  essence  of  faith. 

We  indorse  the  president's  view  of  our  interna- 
tional obligations  and  his  firm  stand  against  reserva- 
tions designed  to  cut  to  pieces  the  vital  provisions  of 
the  Versailles  treaty,  and  we  commend  the  Democrats 
in  congress  for  voting  against  resolutions  for  separate 
peace  which  would  disgrace  the  nation. 

We  advocate  the  immediate  ratification  of  the 
treaty,  without  reservations  which  would  impair  its 
essential  integrity,  but  do  not  oppose  the  acceptance 
of  any  reservations  making  clearer  or  more  specific 

37 


the  obligations  of  the  United  States  to  the  league  as- 
sociates. Only  by  doing  this  may  we  retrieve  the 
reputation  of  this  nation  among  the  powers  of  the 
earth  and  recover  the  moral  leadership  which  Presi- 
dent Wilson  won  and  which  Republican  politicians 
at  Washington  sacrificed. 

"Only  by  doing  this  may  we  hope  to  aid  effec- 
tively in  the  restoration  of  order  throughout  the 
world  and  to  take  the  place  which  we  should  assume 
in  the  front  rank  of  spiritual,  commercial,  and  indus- 
trial advancement. 

"We  reject  as  utterly  vain,  if  not  vicious,  the 
Republican  assumption  that  ratification  of  the  treaty 
and  membership  in  the  league  of  nations  would  in  any 
wise  impair  the  integrity  or  independence  of  our 
country.  The  fact  that  the  covenant  has  been  en- 
tered into  by  twenty-nine  nations,  all  as  jealous  of 
their  independence  as  we  are  of  ours,  is  a  sufficient 
refutation  of  such  charge. 

"The  president  repeatedly  has  declared,  and  this 
convention  reaffrms,  that  all  our  duties  and  obliga- 
tions as  a  member  of  the  league  must  be  fulfilled  in 
strict  conformity  with  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  embodied  in  which  is  the  fundamental  require- 
ment of  declaratory  action  by  the  congress  before 
this  nation  may  become  a  participant  in  any  war. 

Conduct  of  the  War 

"During  the  war  President  Wilson  exhibited  the 
very  broadest  conception  of  liberal  Americanism.  In 
his  conduct  of  the  war,  as  in  the  general  administra- 
tion of  his  high  office,  there  was  no  semblance  of 
partisan  bias.  He  invited  to  Washington  as  his 
councillors  and  coadjutors  hundreds  of  the  most 
prominent  and  pronounced  Republicans  in  the  coun- 

38 


try.  To  these  he  committed  responsibilities  of  the 
gravest  import  and  most  confidential  nature.  Many 
of  them  had  charge  of  vital  activities  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

"And  yet,  with  the  war  successfully  prosecuted 
and  gloriously  ended,  the  Republican  party  in  con- 
gress, far  from  applauding  the  masterly  leadership 
of  the  president  and  felicitating  the  country  on  the 
amazing  achievements  of  the  American  government, 
has  meanly  requited  the  considerate  course  of  the 
chief  magistrate  by  savagely  defaming  the  com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  army  and  navy  and  by 
assailing  nearly  every  public  officer  of  every  branch 
of  the  service  intimately  concerned  in  winning  the 
war  abroad  and  preserving  the  security  of  the  govern- 
ment at  home. 

We  express  to  the  soldiers  and  sailors  and  marines 
of  America  the  admiration  of  their  fellow  country- 
men. Guided  by  the  genius  of  such  commanders  as 
Gen.  John  J.  Pershing,  the  armed  force  of  America 
constituted  a  decisive  factor  in  the  victory  and 
brought  new  luster  to  the  flag. 

We  commend  the  patriotic  men  and  women  who 
sustained  the  efforts  of  their  government  in  the 
crucial  hours  of  the  war  and  contributed  to  the  bril- 
liant administrative  success  achieved  under  the  broad 
visioned  leadership  of  the  president. 

Financial  Achievements 

A  review  of  the  record  of  the  Democratic  party 
during  the  administration  of  Woodrow  Wilson  pre- 
sents a  chapter  of  substantial  achievements  unsur- 
passed in  the  history  of  the  republic. 

For  fifty  years  before  the  advent  of  this  adminis- 
tration periodical  convulsions  had  impeded  the  indus- 

39 


trial  progress  of  the  American  people  and  caused 
inestimable  loss  and  distress. 

By  the  enactment  of  the  federal  reserve  act  the  old 
system  which  bred  panics  was  replaced  by  a  new 
system  which  insured  confidence.  It  was  an  indis- 
pensable factor  in  winning  the  war,  and  today  it  is 
the  hope  and  inspiration  of  business. 

Indeed,  one  vital  danger  against  which  the  Ameri- 
can people  should  keep  constantly  on  guard  is  the 
commitment  of  this  system  to  partisan  enemies,  who 
struggled  against  its  adoption  and  vainly  attempted 
to  retain  in  the  hands  of  speculative  bankers  a 
monopoly  of  the  currency  and  credits  of  the  nation. 

Already  there  are  well  defined  indications  of  an 
assualt  upon  the  vital  principles  of  the  system  in  the 
event  of  Republican  success  in  the  elections  in 
November. 

Under  Democratic  leadership  the  American  people 
successfully  financed  their  stupendous  part  in  the 
greatest  war  of  all  time.  The  treasury  wisely  in- 
sisted during  the  war  upon  meeting  an  adequate 
portion  of  the  war  expenditure  from  current  taxes  and 
the  bulk  of  the  balance  from  popular  loans,  and  dur- 
ing the  first  full  fiscal  year  after  fighting  stopped, 
upon  meeting  current  expenditures  from  current  re- 
ceipts, notwithstanding  the  new  and  unnecessary 
burdens  thrown  upon  the  treasury  by  the  delay,  ob- 
struction, and  extravagance  of  a  Republican  congress. 

The  nonpartisan  federal  reserve  authorities  have 
used  courageously,  though  cautiously,  the  instruments 
at  their  disposal  to  prevent  undue  expansion  of  credit 
in  the  country. 

As  a  result  of  these  sound  treasury  and  federal 
reserve  policies,  the  inevitable  war  inflation  has  been 
held  down  to  a  minimum,  and  the  cost  of  living  has 

40 


been  prevented  from  increasing  here  in  proportion  to 
the  increase  in  other  belligerent  countries  and  in 
neutral  countries,  which  are  in  close  contact  with  the 
world's  commerce  and  exchanges. 

After  a  year  and  a  half  of  fighting  in  Europe 
and  despite  another  year  and  a  half  of  Republican 
obstruction  at  home,  the  credit  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States  stands  unimpaired,  the  federal  re- 
serve note  is  the  unit  of  value  throughout  all  the 
world,  and  the  United  States  is  the  one  great  country 
in  the  world  which  maintains  a  free  gold  market. 

We  condemn  the  attempt  of  the  Republican  party 
to  deprive  the  American  people  of  their  legitimate 
pride  in  the  financing  of  the  war — an  achievement 
without  parallel  in  the  financial  history  of  this  or  any 
other  country,  in  this  or  any  other  war. 

And  in  particular  we  condemn  the  pernicious  at- 
tempt of  the  Republican  party  to  create  discontent 
among  the  holders  of  the  bonds  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States  and  to  drag  our  public  finance  and 
our  banking  and  currency  system  back  into  the  arena 
of  party  politics. 

Tax  Revision 

We  condemn  the  failure  of  the  present  congress 
to  respond  to  the  oft-repeated  demand  of  the  presi- 
dent and  the  secretaries  of  the  treasury  to  revise  the 
existing  tax  laws.  The  continuance  in  force  in  peace 
times  of  taxes  devised  under  pressure  of  imperative 
necessity  to  produce  a  revenue  for  war  purposes  is 
indefensible  and  can  only  result  in  lasting  injury  to 
the  people. 

The  Republican  congress  persistently  failed, 
through  sheer  political  cowardice,  to  make  a  single 
move  toward  a  readjustment  of  tax  laws  which  it  de- 

41 


noiinced  before  the  last  election  and  was  afraid  to 
revise  before  the  next  election. 

We  advocate  tax  reform  and  a  searching  revision 
of  the  war  revenue  acts  to  fit  peace  conditions  so 
that  the  wealth  of  the  nation  may  not  be  withdrawn 
from  productive  enterprise  and  diverted  to  wasteful 
or  non-productive  expenditure. 

We  demand  prompt  action  by  the  next  congress 
for  a  complete  survey  of  existing  taxes  and  their 
modification  and  simplification  with  a  view  to  secure 
greater  equity  and  justice  in  tax  burden  and  improve- 
ment in  administration. 

Public  Economy 

Claiming  to  have  effected  great  economies  in  gov- 
ernment expenditures,  the  Republican  party  cannot 
show  the  reduction  of  one  dollar  in  taxation  as  a 
corollary  of  the  false  pretense.  In  contrast,  the  last 
Democratic  congress  enacted  legislation  reducing  taxes 
from  eight  billions,  designed  to  be  raised,  to  six 
billions  for  the  first  year  after  the  armistice,  and  to 
four  billions  thereafter,  and  there  the  total  is  left 
undiminished  by  our  political  adversaries.  Two 
years  after  armistice  day  a  Republican  congress  pro- 
vides for  expenditures  the  stupendous  sum  of  $5,403,- 
390,327.30. 

Affecting  great  paper  economies  by  reducing  de- 
partmental estimates  of  sums  which  would  not  have 
been  spent  in  any  event,  and  by  reducing  formal 
appropriations,  the  Republican  statement  of  expendi- 
tures omits  the  pregnant  fact  that  congress  authorized 
the  use  of  $1,500,000,000  in  the  hands  of  various 
departments  and  bureaus,  which  otherwise  would  have 
been  converted  into  the  treasury,  and  which  should 
be  added  to  the  Republican  total  of  expenditures. 

42 


High  Cost  of  Living 

The  high  cost  of  living  and  the  depreciation  erf 
bond  values  in  this  country  are  primarily  due  to  war 
itself,  to  the  necessary  governmental  expenditure* 
for  the  destructive  purposes  of  war,  to  private  extrava- 
gance, to  the  world  shortage  of  capital,  to  the  in- 
flation of  foreign  currencies  and  credits  and  in  large 
degree  to  conscienceless  profiteering. 

The  Republican  party  is  responsible  for  the  fail- 
ure to  restore  peact  and  peace  conditions  in  Europe, 
which  is  a  principal  cause  of  post-armistice  inflation 
the  world  over.  It  has  denied  the  demand  of  the 
president  for  nesessary  legislation  to  deal  with  secon- 
dary and  local  causes. 

The  sound  policies  pursued  by  the  treasury  and 
the  federal  reserve  system  have  limited  in  this  coun- 
try, though  they  could  not  prevent  the  inflation  which 
was  world  wide. 

Elected  upon  specific  promises  to  curtail  public 
expenditures  and  to  bring  the  country  back  to  a 
status  of  effective  economy,  the  Republican  party  in 
congress  wasted  time  and  energy  for  more  than  a 
year  in  vain  and  extravagant  investigations,  costing 
the  taxpayers  great  sums  of  money  while  revealing 
nothing  beyond  the  incapacity  of  Republican  politi- 
cians to  cope  with  the  problems. 

Demanding  that  the  president,  from  his  place  at 
the  peace  table,  call  the  congress  into  extraordinary 
session  for  imperative  purposes  of  readjustment,  the 
congress  when  convened  spent  thirteen  months  in  par- 
tisan pursuits,  failing  to  repeal  a  single  war  statute 
which  harassed  business  or  to  initiate  a  single  con- 
structive measure  to  help  business. 

It  busied    itself   making   a   pre-election    record    of 

43 


pretended  trift,  having  not  one  particle  of  substantial 
existence  in  fact.  It  raged  against  profiteers  and  the 
high  cost  of  living  without  enacting  a  single  statute 
to  make  the  former  afraid  or  doing  a  single  act  to 
bring  the  latter  within  limitations. 

The  simple  truth  is  that  the  high  cost  of  living  can 
only  be  remedied  by  increased  production,  strict 
governmental  economy  and  a  relentless  pursuit  of 
those  who  take  advantage  of  postwar  conditions  and 
are  demanding  and  receiving  outrageous  profits. 

We  pledge  the  Democratic  party  to  a  policy  of 
strict  economy  in  government  expenditures  and  to  the 
enactment  and  enforcement  of  such  legislation  as  may 
be  required  to  bring  profiteers  before  the  bar  of 
criminal  justice. 

The  Tariff 

We  reaffirm  the  traditional  policy  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  favor  of  a  tariff  for  revenue  only  and 
confirm  the  policy  of  basing  tariff  revisions  upon  the 
intelligent  research  of  a  non-partisan  commission, 
rather  than  upon  the  demands  of  selfish  interests,  tem- 
porarily held  in  abeyance. 

Budget 

In  the  interest  of  economy  and  good  administration, 
we  favor  the  creation  of  an  effective  budget  system 
that  will  function  in  accord  with  the  principles  of  the 
constitution.  The  reform  should  reach  both  the 
executive  and  legislative  aspects  of  the  question. 

The  supervision  and  preparation  of  the  budget 
should  be  vested  in  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  as 
the  representative  of  the  president.  The  budget, 
as  such,  should  not  be  increased  by  the  congress  ex- 
cept by  a  two-thirds  vote,  each  house,  however,  being 

44 


free  to  exercise  its  constitutional  privilege  of  making 
appropriations  through  independent  bills. 

The  appropriation  bills  should  be  considered  by 
single  committees  of  the  house  and  senate.  The 
audit  system  should  be  consolidated  and  its  powers 
expanded  so  as  to  pass  upon  the  wisdom  of,  as  well 
as  the  authority  for,  expenditures. 

A  budget  bill  was  passed  in  the  closing  days  of 
the  second  session  of  the  Sixty-sixth  congress  which, 
invalidated  by  plain  constitutional  defects  and  defaced 
by  considerations  of  patronage,  the  president  was 
obliged  to  veto.  The  house  amended  the  bill  to  meet 
the  executive  objection.  We  condemn  the  Republican 
senate  for  adjourning  without  passing  the  amended 
measure,  when  by  devoting  an  hour  or  two  more  to 
this  urgent  public  business  a  budget  system  could 
have  been  provided. 

Senate  Rules 

We  favor  such  alteration  of  the  rules  of  procedure 
of  the  senate  of  the  United  States  as  will  permit  it 
the  prompt  transaction  of  the  nation's  legislative 
business. 

Agricultural  Interests 

To  the  great  agricultural  interests  of  the  country 
the  Democratic  party  does  not  find  it  necessary  to 
make  promises.  It  already  is  rich  in  its  record  of 
things  actually  accomplished. 

For  nearly  half  a  century  of  Republican  rule  not 
a  sentence  was  written  into  the  federal  statutes  af- 
fording one  dollar  of  bank  credits  to  the  farming 
interests  of  America. 

In  the  first  term  of  this  Democratic  administration 
the  national  bank  act  was  so  altered  as  to  authorize 

45 


loans  of  five  years  maturity  on  improved  farm  lands. 
Later  was  established  a  system  of  farm  loan  banks 
from  which  the  borrowings  already  exceed  $300,- 
000,000,  and  under  which  the  interest  rate  to 
farmers  has  been  so  materially  reduced  as  to  drive 
out  of  business  the  farm  loan  sharks  who  formerly 
subsisted  by  extortion  upon  the  great  agricultural 
interests  of  the  country. 

Thus  it  was  a  Democratic  congress  in  the  admin- 
istration of  a  Democratic  president  which  enabled 
the  farmers  of  America  for  the  first  time  to  obtain 
credit  upon  reasonable  terms  and  insured  their  oppor- 
tunity for  the  future  development  of  the  nation's 
agricultural  resources. 

Tied  up  in  Supreme  court  proceedings  in  a  suit  by 
hostile  interests,  the  federal  farm  loan  system, 
originally  opposed  by  the  Republican  candidate  for 
the  presidency,  appealed  in  vain  to  tide  over  the 
interim  between  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  the  cur- 
rent year,  awaiting  a  final  decision  of  the  highest 
court  on  the  validity  of  the  contested  act. 

We  pledge  prompt  and  consistent  support  of  sound 
and  effective  measures  to  sustain,  amplify,  and  per- 
fect the  rural  credits  statutes,  and  thus  to  check  and 
reduce  the  growth  and  cause  of  farm  tenancy. 

Not  only  did  the  Democratic  party  put  into  effect 
a  great  farm  loan  system  of  land  mortgage  banks, 
but  it  passed  the  Smith-Lever  agricultural  extension 
act,  carrying  to  every  farmer  in  every  section  of  the 
country,  through  the  medium  of  trained  experts  and 
by  demonstration  farms,  the  practical  knowledge 
acquired  by  the  federal  agricultural  department  in  all 
things  relating  to  agriculture,  horticulture,  and 
animal  life;  it  established  the  bureau  of  markets,  the 
bureau  of  farm  management,  and  passed  the  cotton 

46 


futures  act,  the  grain  grades  bill,  the  co-operative 
farm  administration  act,  and  the  federal  warehouse 
act. 

The  Democratic  party  has  vastly  improved  the 
rural  mail  system  and  has  built  up  the  parcel  post 
system.  It  was  this  wise  encouragement  that  enabled 
this  great  interest  to  render  such  essential  service  in 
feeding  the  armies  of  America  and  the  allied  nations 
of  the  war  and  succoring  starving  populations  since 
armistice  day. 

Meanwhile  the  Republican  leaders  at  Washington 
have  failed  utterly  to  propose  one  single  measure  to 
make  rural  life  more  tolerable.  They  have  signalized 
their  fifteen  months  of  congressional  power  by  urging 
schemes  which  would  strip  the  farms  of  labor,  by 
assailing  the  principles  of  the  farm  loan  system  and 
seeking  to  impair  its  efficiency;  by  covertly  attempting 
to  destroy  the  great  nitrogen  plant  at  Mussel  Shoals, 
upon  which  the  government  has  expended  $70,000,- 
000  to  supply  American  farmers  with  fertilizers  at 
reasonable  cost,  by  ruthlessly  crippling  nearly  every 
branch  of  agricultural  endeavor,  literally  crippling 
the  productive  mediums  through  which  the  people 
must  be  fed. 

We  favor  such  legislation  as  will  confirm  to  the 
primary  producers  of  the  nation  the  right  of  collec- 
tive bargaining  and  the  right  of  co-operative  handling 
and  marketing  of  the  products  of  the  workshop  and 
the  farm  and  such  legislation  as  will  facilitate  the  ex- 
portation of  our  farm  products. 

We  favor  comprehensive  studies  of  farm  produc- 
tion costs  and  the  uncensored  publication  of  facts 
found  in  such  studies. 

Labor  and  Industry 

The   Democratic  party  is  now,   as  ever,   the  firm 
47 


friend  of  honest  labor  and  the  promoter  of  progres- 
sive industry.  It  established  the  department  of  labor 
at  Washington  and  a  Democratic  president  called  to 
his  official  council  board  the  first  practical  working- 
man  who  ever  held  a  cabinet  portfolio. 

Under  this  adminstration  have  been  established 
employment  bureaus  to  bring  the  man  and  the  job 
together;  have  been  peaceably  determined  many 
bitter  disputes  between  capital  and  labor;  were  passed 
the  child  labor  act,  the  workingmen's  compensation 
act  (the  extension  of  which  we  advocate  so  as  to 
include  laborers  engaged  in  loading  and  unloading 
ships  and  in  interstate  commerce),  the  eight  hour  law, 
the  act  for  vocational  training,  and  a  code  of  other 
wholesome  laws  affecting  the  liberties  and  bettering 
the  conditions  of  the  laboring  classes. 

In  the  department  of  labor  the  Democratic  admin- 
istration established  a  woman's  bureau,  which  a  Re- 
publican congress  destroyed  by  withholding  appro- 
priations. 

Labor  is  not  a  commodity;  it  is  human.  Those 
who  labor  have  rights  and  the  national  security  and 
safety  depend  upon  a  just  recognition  of  those  rights 
and  the  conservation  of  the  strength  of  the  workers 
and  their  families  in  the  interest  of  sound  hearted 
and  sound  headed  men,  women,  and  children.  Laws 
regulating  hours  of  labor  and  conditions  under  which 
labor  is  performed,  when  passed  in  recognition  of  the 
conditions  under  which  life  must  be  lived  to  attain 
the  highest  development  and  happiness,  are  just 
assertions  of  the  national  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  people. 

At  the  same  time,  the  nation  depends  upon  the 
products  of  labor;  a  cessation  of  production  means 
loss  and,  if  continued  long,  disaster.  The  whole 

41 


people,  therefore,  have  a  right  to  insist  that  justice 
shall  be  done  to  those  who  work,  and  in  turn  that 
those  whose  labor  creates  the  necessities  upon  which 
the  life  of  the  nation  depends  must  recognize  the 
reciprocal  obligation  between  the  worker  and  the 
state. 

They  should  participate  in  the  formulation  of 
sound  laws  and  regulations  governing  the  conditions 
under  which  labor  is  performed,  recognize  and  obey 
the  laws  so  formulated,  and  seek  their  amendment 
when  necessary  by  the  processes  ordinarily  addressed 
to  the  laws  and  regulations  affecting  the  other  rela- 
tions of  life. 

Labor,  as  well  as  capital,  is  entitled  to  adequate 
compensation.  Each  has  the  indefeasible  right  of  or- 
ganization, of  collective  bargaining,  and  of  speaking 
through  representatives  of  their  own  selection. 

Neither  class,  however,  should  at  any  time  nor  in 
any  circumstances  take  action  that  will  put  in 
jeopardy  the  public  welfare.  Resort  to  strikes  and 
lockouts  which  endanger  the  health  or  lives  of  the 
people  is  an  unsatisfactory  device  for  determining 
disputes  and  the  Democratic  party  pledges  itself  to 
contrive,  if  possible,  and  put  into  effective  operation 
a  fair  and  comprehensive  method  of  composing  differ- 
ences of  this  nature. 

In  private  industrial  disputes,  we  are  opposed  to 
compulsory  arbitration  as  a  method  plausible  in  the 
theory  but  a  failure  in  fact. 

With  respect  to  government  service,  we  hold  dis- 
tinctly that  the  rights  of  the  people  are  paramount  to 
the  right  to  strike. 

However,  we  profess  scrupulous  regard  for  the 
conditions  of  public  employment  and  pledge  the 
Democratic  party  to  instant  inquiry  into  the  pay  of 

49 


government  employes  and  equally  speedy  regulations 
designed  to  bring  salaries  to  a  just  and  proper  level. 

Woman's  Suffrage 

We  indorse  the  proposed  nineteenth  amendment  of 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States  granting  equal 
suffrage  to  women.  We  congratulate  the  legislatures 
of  thirty-five  states  which  have  already  ratified  said 
amendment,  and  we  urge  the  Democratic  governors 
and  legislatures  of  Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  and 
Florida,  and  such  states  as  have  not  yet  ratified  the 
federal  suffrage  amendment  to  unite  in  an  effort  to 
complete  the  process  of  ratification  and  secure  the 
thirty-sixth  state  in  time  for  all  the  women  of  the 
United  States  to  participate  in  the  fall  election. 

Women  in  Industry 

We  urge  co-operation  with  the  states  for  the  pro- 
tection of  child  life  through  infancy  and  maternity 
care;  in  the  prohibition  of  child  labor,  and  by  ade- 
quate appropriations  for  the  children's  bureau  in  the 
department  of  labor.  Co-operative  federal  assistance 
to  the  states  is  immediately  required  for  the  removal 
of  illiteracy,  for  the  increase  of  teachers'  salaries,  and 
instruction  in  citizenship  for  both  native  and  foreign 
born;  increased  appropriation  for  vocational  training 
in  home  economics;  re-establishment  of  joint  federal 
and  state  employment  service  with  women's  depart- 
ments under  the  direction  of  technically  qualified 
women. 

We  advocate  full  representation  of  women  on  all 
commissions  dealing  with  women's  work  or  women's 
interests  and  a  reclassification  of  the  federal  civil 
service  free  from  discrimination  on  the  ground  of 
sex;  a  continuance  of  appropriations  for  education 

50 


in  sex  hygiene;  federal  legislation  which  shall  insure 
that  American  women  resident  in  the  United  States, 
but  married  to  aliens,  shall  retain  their  American 
citizenship  and  that  the  same  process  of  naturaliza- 
tion shall  be  required  for  women  as  for  men. 

Disabled  Soldiers 

The  federal  government  should  treat  with  the  ut- 
most consideration  every  disabled  soldier,  sailor,  and 
marine  of  the  world  war,  whether  his  disability  be 
due  to  wounds  received  in  line  of  action  or  to  health 
impaired  in  service;  and  for  the  dependents  of  the 
brave  men  who  died  in  line  of  duty  the  government's 
tenderest  concern  and  richest  bounty  should  be  their 
requital. 

The  fine  patriotism  exhibited,  the  heroic  conduct 
displayed  by  American  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines 
at  home  and  abroad,  constitute  a  sacred  heritage  of 
posterity,  the  worth  of  which  can  never  be  recom- 
pensed from  the  treasury  and  the  glory  of  which  must 
not  be  diminished  by  any  such  expedients. 

The  Democratic  administration  wisely  established 
a  war  risk  insurance  bureau,  giving  4,500,000  of 
enlisted  men  insurance  at  unprecedentedly  low  rates, 
and  through  the  medium  of  which  compensation  of 
men  and  women  injured  in  service  is  readily  adjusted 
and  hospital  facilities  for  those  whose  health  is  im- 
paired are  abundantly  afforded. 

The  federal  board  for  vocational  education  should 
be  made  a  part  of  the  war  risk  insurance  bureau,  in 
order  that  the  task  may  be  treated  as  a  whole,  and 
this  machinery  of  protection  and  assistance  must  re- 
ceive every  aid  of  law  and  appropriation  necessary  to 
full  and  effective  operation. 

We  believe  that  no  higher  or  more  valued  privilege 
can  be  afforded  to  an  American  citizen  than  to 
51 


become  a  freeholder  in  the  soil  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  that  end  we  pledge  our  party  to  the  enactment 
of  soldier  settlements  and  home  aid  legislation  which 
will  afford  to  the  men  who  fought  for  America  the 
opportunity  to  become  land  and  home  owners  under 
conditions  affording  genuine  government  assistance, 
unincumbered  by  needless  difficulties  of  red  tape  or 
advance  financial  investment. 

The  Railroads 

The  railroads  were  subjected  to  federal  control  as 
a  war  measure  without  other  idea  than  the  swift 
transport  of  troops,  munitions,  and  supplies.  When 
human  life  and  national  hopes  were  at  stake  profits 
could  not  be  considered,  and  were  not.  The  equip- 
ment taken  over  was  not  only  grossly  inadequate  but 
shamefully  outworn.  Unification  practices  overcame 
these  initial  handicaps  and  provided  additions,  better- 
ments and  improvements. 

Economies  enabled  operation  without  the  rate  raises 
that  private  control  would  have  found  necessary,  and 
labor  was  treated  with  an  exact  justice  that  secured 
the  enthusiastic  co-operation  that  victory  demanded. 
The  fundamental  purpose  of  federal  control  was 
achieved  fully  and  splendidly,  and  at  far  less  cost 
to  the  taxpayer  than  would  have  been  the  case  under 
private  operation. 

The  president's  recommendation  of  return  to 
private  ownership  gave  the  Republican  majority  a 
full  year  in  which  to  enact  the  necessary  legislation. 
The  house  took  six  months  to  formulate  its  ideas  and 
another  six  months  was  consumed  by  the  Republican 
senate  in  equally  vague  debate. 

As  a  consequence  the  Esch-Cummins  bill  went  to 
the  president  in  the  closing  hours  of  congress  and  he 

52 


was  forced  to  a  choice  between  the  chaos  of  a  veto 
and  acquiescence  in  the  measure  submitted,  however 
grave  may  have  been  his  objections  to  it. 

There  should  be  a  fair  and  complete  test  of  the 
law  until  careful  and  mature  action  by  congress  may 
cure  its  defects  and  insure  a  thoroughly  effective 
transportation  system  under  private  ownership,  without 
government  subsidy  at  the  expense  of  the  tax  payers 
of  the  country. 

Improved  Highways 

Improved  roads  are  of  vital  importance  not  only 
to  commerce  and  industry  but  also  to  agriculture  and 
rural  life.  The  federal  road  act  of  1916,  enacted 
by  a  Democratic  congress,  represented  the  first  sys- 
tematic effort  of  the  government  to  insure  the  building 
of  an  adequate  system  of  roads  in  this  country.  The 
act,  as  amended,  has  resulted  in  placing  the  move- 
ment for  improved  highways  on  a  progressive  and 
substantial  basis  in  every  state  in  the  union  and  in 
bringing  under  actual  construction  more  than  1  3,000 
miles  of  roads  suited  to  the  traffic  needs  of  the  com- 
munities in  which  they  are  located. 

We  favor  a  continuance  of  the  present  federal  aid 
plan  under  existing  federal  and  state  agencies, 
amended  so  as  to  include  as  one  of  the  elements  in 
determining  the  ratio  in  which  the  several  states  shall 
be  entitled  to  share  in  the  fund,  the  area  of  any 
public  lands  therein. 

Inasmuch  as  the  postal  service  has  been  extended 
by  the  Democratic  party  to  the  door  of  practically 
every  producer  and  every  consumer  in  the  country 
(rural  free  delivery  alone  having  been  provided  for 
6,000,000  additional  patrons  within  the  last  eight 
years  without  material  added  cost),  we  declare  that 

53 


this  instrumentality  can  and  will  be  used  to  the 
maximum  of  its  capacity  to  improve  the  efficiency  of 
distribution  and  reduce  the  cost  of  living  to  consumers 
while  increasing  the  profitable  operations  of  producers. 
We  strongly  favor  the  increased  use  of  the  motor 
vehicle  in  the  transportation  of  the  mails  and  urge  the 
removal  of  the  restrictions  imposed  by  the  Republican 
congress  on  the  use  of  motor  devices  in  mail  trans- 
portation in  rural  territories. 

Merchant  Marine 

We  desire  to  congratulate  the  American  people 
upon  the  rebirth  of  our  merchant  marine,  which  once 
more  maintains  its  former  place  in  the  world.  It  was 
under  a  democratic  administration  that  this  was  ac- 
complished after  seventy  years  of  indifference  and 
neglect,  1 3,000,000  tons  having  been  constructed 
since  the  act  was  passed  in  1916.  We  pledge  the 
policy  of  our  party  to  the  continued  growth  of  our 
merchant  marine  under  proper  legislation. 

Port  Facilities 

The  urgent  demands  of  the  war  for  adequate 
transportation  of  war  material  as  well  as  for  domestic 
need  revealed  the  fact  that  our  port  facilities  and 
rate  adjustment  were  such  as  to  seriously  affect  the 
whole  country  in  times  of  peace  as  well  as  war. 

We  pledge  our  party  to  stand  for  equality  of  rates, 
both  import  and  export,  for  the  ports  of  the  country 
to  the  end  that  there  might  be  adequate  and  fair 
facilities  and  rates  for  the  mobilization  of  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  country  offered  for  shipment. 

Inland  Waterways 

We  call  attention  to  the  failure  of  the  Republican 

54 


national  convention  to  recognize  in  any  way  the 
rapid  development  of  barge  transportation  on  our  in- 
land waterways,  which  development  is  the  result  of 
the  constructive  policies  of  the  Democratic  adminis- 
tration. 

And  we  pledge  ourselves  to  the  further  devolpment 
of  adequate  transportation  facilities  on  our  rivers  and 
to  the  further  improvement  of  our  inland  waterways 
and  we  recognize  the  importance  of  connecting  the 
great  lakes  with  the  sea  by  way  of  the  Mississippi 
river  and  its  tributaries,  as  well  as  by  the  St.  Law- 
rence river. 

Transportation  remains  an  increasingly  vital  prob- 
lem in  the  continued  development  and  prosperity  of 
the  nation. 

Our  present  facilities  for  distribution  by  rail  are 
inadequate  and  the  promotion  of  transportation  by 
water  is  imperative. 

We  therefore  favor  a  liberal  and  comprehensive 
policy  for  the  development  and  utilization  of  our 
harbors  and  interior  waterways. 

Flood  Control 

We  commend  the  Democratic  congress  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  pledge  contained  in  our  last  platform 
by  the  passage  of  the  Flood  control  act  of  March 
1,  1917,  and  point  to  the  successful  control  of  the 
floods  of  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Sacramento 
river,  California,  under  the  policy  of  that  law,  for 
its  complete  justification.  We  favor  the  extension  of 
this  policy  to  other  flood  control  problems. 

Reclamation  of  Arid  Land 

By  wise  legislation  and  progressive  administration, 
we  have  transformed  the  government  reclamation 

55 


projects,  representing  an  investment  of  $  1 00,000,000 
from  a  condition  of  impending  failure  and  loss  of 
confidence  in  the  ability  of  the  government  to  carry 
through  such  large  enterprises,  to  a  condition  of 
demonstrated  success,  whereby  formerly  arid  and 
wholly  unproductive  lands  now  sustain  40,000  pros- 
perous families  and  have  an  annual  crop  production 
of  over  $70,000,000  not  including  the  crops  grown 
on  a  million  acres  outside  the  projects  supplied  with 
storage  water  from  government  works. 

We  favor  ample  appropriations  for  the  continua- 
tion and  extension  of  this  great  work  of  home  build- 
ing and  internal  improvements  along  the  same  general 
lines,  to  the  end  that  all  practical  projects  shall  be 
built,  and  waters  now  running  to  waste  shall  be 
made  to  provide  homes  and  add  to  the  food  supply, 
power  resources,  and  taxable  property,  with  the 
government  ultimately  reimbursed  for  the  entire  out- 
lay. 

The  Trade  Commission 

The  Democratic  party  heartily  endorses  the  crea- 
tion and  work  of  the  federal  trade  commission  in 
establishing  a  fair  field  for  competitive  business,  free 
from  restraints  of  trade  and  monopoly,  and  recom- 
mends amplification  of  the  statutes  governing  its  ac- 
tvities  so  as  to  grant  it  authority  to  prevent  the  unfair 
use  of  patents  in  restraint  of  trade. 

Livestock  Markets 

For  the  purpose  of  insuring  just  and  fair  treatment 
in  the  great  interstate  live  stock  market,  and  thus  in- 
stilling confidence  in  growers  through  which  produc- 
tion will  be  stimulated  and  the  price  of  meats  to 
consumers  be  ultimately  reduced,  we  favor  the  enact- 

56 


ment  of  legislation  for  the  supervision  of  such  markets 
by  the  national  government. 

Mexico 

The  United  States  is  the  neighbor  and  friend  of 
the  nations  of  the  three  Americas.  In  a  very 
special  sense,  our  international  relations  in  this  hemi- 
sphere should  be  characterized  by  good  will  and  free 
from  any  possible  suspicion  as  to  our  national  pur- 
pose. 

The  administration,  remembering  always  that 
Mexico  is  an  independent  nation  and  that  permanent 
stability  in  her  government  and  ker  institutions  could 
come  only  from  the  consent  of  her  own  people  to  a 
government  of  their  own  making,  has  been  unwilling 
either  to  profit  by  the  misfortunes  of  the  people  of 
Mexico  or  to  enfeeble  their  future  by  imposing  from 
the  outside  a  rule  upon  their  temporary  distracted 
councils. 

As  a  consequence,  order  is  gradually  reappearing 
in  Mexico;  at  no  time  in  many  years  have  American 
live*  and  interests  been  so  safe  as  they  now  are; 
peace  reigns  along  the  border  and  industry  is  resum- 
ing. 

When  the  new  government  of  Mexico  shall  have 
given  ample  proof  of  its  ability  permanently  to  main- 
tain law  and  order,  signifying  its  willingness  to  meet 
its  international  obligations  and  written  upon  its 
statute  books  just  laws  under  which  foreign  investors 
shall  have  rights  as  well  as  duties,  that  government 
should  receive  our  recognition  and  systematic  assist- 
ance. 

Until  these  proper  expectations  have  been  met 
Mexico  must  realize  the  propriety  of  a  policy  that 

57 


asserts  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  demand  full 
protection  for  its  citizens. 

Petroleum 

The  Democratic  party  recognizes  the  importance 
of  the  acquistion  by  Americans  of  additional  sources 
of  supply  of  petroleum  and  other  minerals  and  de- 
clares that  such  acquisition,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
should  be  fostered  and  encouraged. 

We  urge  such  action,  legislative  and  executive,  as 
may  secure  to  American  citizens  the  same  rights  in 
the  acquirement  of  mining  rights  in  foreign  countries 
as  are  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  any  other 
nation. 

New  Nations 

The  Democratic  party  expresses  its  active  sym- 
pathy with  the  people  of  China,  Czecho-Slovakia, 
Finland,  Poland,  Persia,  and  others  who  have  re- 
cently established  representative  government  and  who 
are  striving  to  develop  the  institutions  of  true  democ- 
racy. 

Ireland 

The  great  principle  of  national  self-determination 
has  received  constant  reiteration  as  one  of  the  chief 
objectives  for  which  this  country  entered  the  war,  and 
victory  established  this  principle. 

Within  the  limitations  of  international  comity  and 
usage,  this  convention  repeats  the  several  previous 
expressions  of  the  sympathy  of  the  Democratic  party 
of  the  United  States  for  the  aspirations  of  Ireland 
for  self-government. 

Armenia 

We  express  our  deep   and  earnest  sympathy   for 
58 


the  unfortunate  people  of  Armenia,  and  we  believe 
that  our  government,  consistent  with  its  constitution 
and  principles,  should  render  every  possible  and 
proper  aid  to  them  in  their  efforts  to  establish  and 
maintain  a  government  of  their  own. 

The  Philippines 

We  favor  the  granting  of  independence  without 
unnecessary  delay  to  the  10,500,000  inhabitants  of 
the  Philippine  islands. 

Hawaii 

We  favor  a  liberal  policy  of  homesteading  public 
lands  in  Hawaii  to  promote  a  larger  middle  class 
citizen  population,  with  equal  rights  to  all  citizens. 

The  importance  of  Hawaii  as  an  outpost  on  the 
western  frontier  of  the  United  States  demands  ade- 
quate appropriations  by  congress  for  the  development 
of  our  harbors  and  highways  there. 

Porto  Rico 

We  favor  the  granting  to  the  people  of  Porto  Rico 
the  traditional  territorial  form  of  government,  with  a 
view  to  ultimate  statehood,  accorded  to  all  territories 
of  the  United  States  since  the  beginning  of  our 
government. 

Alaska 

We  commend  the  Democratic  administration  for 
inaugurating  a  new  policy  as  to  Alaska  as  evidenced 
by  the  construction  of  the  Alaska  railroad  and  open- 
ing of  the  coal  and  oil  fields. 

We  declare  for  the  modification  of  the  existing 
coal  land  law,  to  promote  development  without  dis- 
turbing the  features  intended  to  prevent  monopoly. 

For  such  changes  in  the  policy  of  forestry  control 

59 


as  will  permit  the  immediate  initiation  of  the  paper 
pulp  industry. 

For  relieving  the  territory  from  the  evils  of  long 
distance  government,  and  to  that  end  we  urge  the 
speedy  passage  of  a  law  containing  the  essential  fea- 
tures of  the  Lane-Curry  bill  now  pending,  co-ordinat- 
ing and  consolidating  all  federal  control  of  natural 
resources  under  one  department  to  be  administered  by 
a  non-partisan  board  permanently  resident  in  the 
territory. 

For  a  comprehensive  system  of  road  construction 
with  increased  appropriations  and  the  full  extension  of 
the  federal  road  act  to  Alaska. 

For  the  extension  to  Alaska  of  the  federal  farm 
loan  act. 

Asiatic  Immigrants 

The  policy  of  the  United  States  with  reference  to 
the  non-admission  of  Asiatic  immigrants  is  a  true  ex- 
pression of  the  judgment  of  our  people  and  to  the 
several  states,  whose  geographical  situation  or  in- 
ternal conditions  make  this  policy  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  laws  enacted  pursuant  thereto  of  particu- 
lar concern;  we  pledge  our  support. 

The  Postal  Service 

The  efficiency  of  the  postoffice  department  has 
been  vindicated  against  a  malicious  and  designing 
assault  by  the  efficiency  of  its  operation.  Its  record 
refutes  its  assailants.  Their  voices  are  silenced  and 
their  charges  have  collapsed. 

We  commend  the  work  of  the  joint  commission  on 
the  reclassification  of  salaries  of  postal  employes,  re- 
cently concluded,  which  commission  was  created  by  a 
Democratic  administration.  The  Democratic  party 

60 


has  always   favored  and  will   continue  to   favor   the 
fair  and  just  treatment  of  government  employes. 

Free  Speech  and  Press 

We  resent  the  unfounded  reproaches  directed 
against  the  Democratic  administration  for  alleged 
interference  with  the  freedom  of  the  press  and  free- 
dom of  speech. 

No  utterance  from  any  quarter  has  been  assailed, 
and  no  publication  has  been  repressed,  which  has  not 
been  animated  by  treasonable  purpose,  and  directed 
against  the  nation's  peace,  order  and  security  in  time 
of  war. 

We  reaffirm  our  respect  for  the  great  principles 
of  free  speech  and  a  free  press,  but  assert  as  an 
indisputable  proposition  that  they  afford  no  toleration 
of  enemy  propaganda  or  the  advocacy  of  the  over- 
throw of  the  government  of  the  state  or  nation  by 
force  or  violence. 

Republican  Corruption 

The  shocking  disclosure  of  the  lavish  use  of  money 
by  aspirants  for  the  Republican  nomination  for  the 
highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people  has  created  a 
painful  impression  throughout  the  country. 

Viewed  in  connection  with  the  recent  conviction  of 
a  Republican  senator  from  the  state  of  Michigan  for 
the  criminal  transgression  of  the  law  limiting  expendi- 
tures on  behalf  of  a  candidate  for  the  United  States 
senate,  it  indicates  the  re-entry,  under  Republican 
auspices,  of  money  as  an  influential  factor  in  elec- 
tions, thus  nullifying  the  letter  and  flaunting  the  spirit 
of  numerous  laws  enacted  by  the  people  to  protect  the 
ballot  from  the  contamination  of  corrupt  practices. 

We  deplore  those  delinquencies  and  invoke  their 

61 


stern  popular  rebuke,  pledging  our  earnest  efforts  to 
a  strengthening  of  the  present  statutes  against  corrupt 
practices  and  their  rigorous  enforcement. 

We  remind  the  people  that  it  was  only  by  the  re- 
turn of  a  Republican  senator  in  Michigan,  who  is 
now  under  conviction  and  sentence  for  the  criminal 
misuse  of  money  in  his  election,  that  the  present 
organization  of  the  senate  with  a  Republican  majority 
was  made  possible. 

Conclusion 

Believing  that  we  have  kept  the  Democratic  faith, 
and  resting  our  claims  to  the  confidence  of  the  people 
not  upon  grandiose  promise  but  upon  the  solid  per- 
formances of  our  party  we  submit  our  record  to  the 
nation's  consideration  and  ask  that  the  pledges  of  this 
platform  be  appraised  in  the  light  of  that  record. 


Electoral  Vote  of  States,  1920 

Make  Your  Forecast  of  the  Result 


STATE 

Harding 
Repub. 

Cox 
Dem. 

Electoral 
Vote  for 
Ea.  State 

Alabama 

12 

Arizona  

3 

Arkansas 

9 

California  

13 

Colorado 

6 

Connecticut  ...  . 

7 

Delaware 

3 

Florida  

6 

Georgia 

14 

Idaho    

4 

Illinois  

29 

Indiana  

15 

Iowa 

13 

Kansas 

10 

Kentucky  

i 

13 

Louisiana 

10 

Maine 

6 

Maryland 

8 

Massachusetts    . 

18 

Michigan 

15 

12 

Mississippi 

10 

Missouri 

18 

Montana 

4 

Nebraska 

8 

64 


Electoral  Vote  of  States,  1920 


»         STATE 

Harding 
Repub. 

Cox 
Dem. 

Electoral 
Vote  for 
Ea.  State 

Nevada  

3 

New  Hampshire.. 

4 

New  Jersey  

14 

New  Mexico  

3 

New  York  

45 

North  Carolina.... 

12 

North  Dakota  

5 

Ohio  

24 

Oklahoma  

10 

Oregon  

5 

Pennsylvania  

38 

Rhode  Island  

| 

South  Carolina.... 

9 

South  Dakota  

5 

Tennessee  .. 

12 

Texas  

20 

Utah  

4 

Vermont 

4 

Virginia 

12 

Washington 

7 

West  Virginia 

g 

Wisconsin 

13 

Wyoming  

3 

531 

65 


Electoral  Vote  by  States,  1912  &  1916 


STATE 

1912 

1916 

Is 

|£ 

Roosevelt, 
Prog. 

Sd 

££ 

Is 

£S 

oT 

« 

f* 

£  o 

Btf 

Alabama  

12 
3 
9 
2 
6 
7 
3 
6 
14 
4 
29 
15 
13 
10 
13 
10 
6 
8 
18 

12 
3 
9 
13 
6 



Arizona  

Arkansas            



California  

11 

Colorado  .. 

Connecticut  

7 
3 

Delaware 

Florida 

6 
14 
4 

Georgia  

Idaho 

Illinois 

29 
15 
13 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

10 
13 
10 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

6 

Maine 

Maryland 

8 

Massachusetts 

18 
15 
12 

Michigan 

15 
12 

Minnesota 

10 
18, 
4 

Mississippi 

10 
18 
4 

Missouri 

Montana  

66 


Electoral  Vote  by  States,  1912  &  1916 


1912 

19 

16 

STATE 

Is 
£«3 

Roosevelt, 
Prog. 

«p, 

£& 

la 

£& 

orT 

B 

f  * 

Wtf 

Nebraska                  

8 

8 

Nevada 

3 

3 

New  Hampshire 

4 

4 

New  Jersey 

14 

14 

New  Mexico    

3 

3 

New  York 

45 

45 

North  Carolina  

12 

12 

North  Dakota 

5 

5 

Ohio  

24 

24 

Oklahoma 

10 

10 

Oregon 

5 

5 

Pennsylvania  

38 

38 

Rhode  Island  

5 

5 

South  Carolina. 

9 

9 

South  Dakota  

5 

5 

Tennessee.  .. 

12 

12 

Texas  

20 

20 

Utah  

4 

4 

Vermont  .. 

4 

4 

Virginia  

12 

12 

Washington 

7 

7 

West  Virginia 

8 

1 

7 

Wisconsin  

13 

13 

Wyoming 

3 

3 

435 

88 

8 

277 

254 

67 


Popular  Vote  for  President,  1912 


STATE 

Dem. 
Wilson 

Prog. 
Roosevelt 

Rep. 
Taft 

Alabama 

82  438 

22,680 

9,732 

Arizona    

10,174 

6,881 

2,975 

Arkansas 

68  838 

21,673 

24,467 

California        

283  436 

283,610 

2,847 

Colorado  

114,074 

72,306 

58,386 

Connecticut    

74,561 

34,129 

68,324 

Delaware 

22  631 

8  887 

13  000 

Florida 

35  313 

4  535 

4,279 

Georgia 

93  176 

21  980 

5  191 

Idaho    

34  025 

25,547 

32,874 

Illinois  

405  048 

386,478 

253,593 

Indiana  

281  890 

162  007 

151,267 

Iowa       -  

185  325 

161,819 

119,805 

Kansas  

143,670 

120,123 

74,844 

Kentucky         

219,584 

102,766 

115,512 

Louisiana  
Maine  

60,966 
51,113 

9,323 
48,493 

3,834 
26,545 

Maryland  

112,674 

57,789 

54,956 

Massachusetts  
Michigan  

173,408 
150,751 

142,228 
214,584 

155,948 
152,244 

Minnesota  

106,426 

125,856 

64,334 

Mississippi       ..  - 

57,164 

3,627 

1,511 

Missouri 

330,746 

123,071 

207,821 

Montana  

Nebraska 

28,129 
109,109 

22,688 
72,776 

18,575 
54,348 

68 


Popular  Vote  for  President,  1912 


STATE 

Dem. 
Wilson 

Prog. 
Roosevelt 

Rep. 
Taft 

Nevada  

8,015 

5,280 

3,203 

New  Hampshire- 
New  Jersey 

34,724 
178  282 

17,794 
145,409 

32,927 
88,834 

New  Mexico  

20,437 

8,347 

17,733 

New  York    

656,475 

390,021 

455,428 

North  Carolina- 
North  Dakota..... 
Ohio  

144,507 
29,555 
423,153 

69,139 
25,726 
229,327 

29,130 
23,090 
277,066 

Oklahoma  

119,156 

90,786 

Oregon         «  . 

47  064 

37  600 

34  673 

Pennsylvania  
Rhode  Island  

395,619 
30  412 

447,426 
16,878 

273,305 
27,703 

South  Carolina- 
South  Dakota  

48,357 
48,942 

1,293 
58,811 

536 

Tennessee    

130  335 

53,725 

59,444 

Texas            

221,345 

26,740 

28,668 

Utah    

36,579 

24,174 

42,100 

Vermont         .  . 

15,354 

22,132 

23,332 

Virginia 

90,332 

21,777 

23,288 

Washington  

87,674 

111,977 

71,252 

West  Virginia  
Wisconsin  

113,046 
164,228 

78,977 
62,460 

56,667 
130,695 

Wyoming  . 

15,310 

9,232 

14,560 

6,292,600 

4,120,101 

3,481,632 

Total  Vote,   15,023,685.      Other  Parties,    1,129,352. 

69 


Popular  Vote  for  President,  1916 


STATE 

Rep. 
Hughes 

Dem. 
Wilson 

Alabama  . 

22,809 

99  409 

Arizona 

20,524 

33  170 

Arkansas 

47,148 

112  148 

California  

462,394 

466  200 

Colorado         .  . 

102,308 

178  816 

Connecticut  

106,514 

99  786 

Delaware    . 

26,011 

24  753 

Florida 

14,611 

55  984 

Georgia  

11,225 

125  845 

Idaho  

55,368 

70,054 

Illinois 

1,152,549 

950  229 

Indiana  

341,005 

334  063 

Iowa  

280,449 

221,699 

Kansas  

277,658 

314,588 

Kentucky  

241,854 

269,990 

Louisiana  

6,466 

79,875 

Maine 

69,506 

64,127 

Maryland 

117,347 

138,359 

Massachusetts  

268,784 

247,885 

Michigan 

339,097 

285,151 

Minnesota  ...        ... 

179,544 

179,152 

Mississippi 

4,253 

80,422 

Missouri  

369,339 

398,025 

Montana 

66,750 

101,063 

Nebraska            .        ..  . 

117,257 

158,827 

70 


Popular  Vote  for  President,  1916 


STATE 

Rep. 
Hughes 

Dem. 
Wilson 

Nevada  

12  127 

17  776 

New  Hampshire 

43  723 

43  779 

New  Jersey 

269  352 

211  645 

New  Mexico 

31  163 

33  693 

New  York 

869  115 

759,426 

North  Carolina 

120  988 

168,383 

North  Dakota  

53,471 

55,206 

Ohio  

514  753 

604  161 

Oklahoma 

97  233 

148,113 

Oregon 

126  813 

120  087 

Pennsylvania.... 

703  734 

521  784 

Rhode  Island 

44  858 

40,394 

South  Carolina  

1,550 

61,846 

South  Dakota  

64,217 

59,191 

Tennessee 

116  223 

153,282 

Texas  

64,999 

286,514 

Utah  „  

54,137 

84,025 

Vermont  ,  

40,250 

22,708 

Virginia  

49,356 

102,824 

Washington 

167,244 

183,388 

West  Virginia. 

143,124 

140,403 

Wisconsin  

221,323 

193,042 

Wyoming 

21,698 

28,316 

8,538,221 

9,129,606 

Total    Vote,    18,528,743.      Other    Parses,    860,916. 

71 


